


Rising to the Throne

by GIJinx



Series: Rising to the Throne [1]
Category: youtube - Fandom
Genre: Demons, Gar has no friends, Gars mom is phsyco, King doesn’t notice, Many Demons, Until he has friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-02-12 13:57:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 37
Words: 35,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12960816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GIJinx/pseuds/GIJinx
Summary: Prince Bluemoon had gone through a lot, but nothing could of prepared him for this.





	1. Trust Issues and Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TrulyMightyPotato](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrulyMightyPotato/gifts).



“Prince.”

He shook his head and rolled away.

“Prince.” The soft hands touched his shoulder and slightly shook him.

He didn’t respond this time, just sinking deeper into his comforter.

A small bork was heard, and the hands moved off of him.

“Say, Dante? I think you should wake up Prince Bluemoon.” The voice said, and Gar could hear the crack of old joints as the maid bent down to pick up his Corgi puppy.

Gars smile was present even before Dante got close to him.

Then, a bork happened right next to his ear and a wet tongue licked his cheek.

“Dante!” Gar giggled, sitting up and looking at Dante and Monica.

“See? I knew that would wake him up.” Monica said to Dante, and the Corgi only barked in response.

Dante jumped from the maids hands onto Gars lap, where he curled up and nudged Gars hand as a signal for him to pet him.

“Prince Bluemoon, I think you should get ready. You’re already a bit late.” Monica said as she layed out his normal black clothing with a crescent blue moon in it. Going through the moon was a sword.

Gar froze at what she said. Have had totally forgotten that today he was supposed to get a Gaurd.

“Woah, um, all of a sudden, I’m not feeling too well. I might have stay in my room today.” Gar flopped back down on his bed.

“It’s ok, Prince. Everybody’s nervous when they first meet their Gaurd. I didn’t have the pleasure of having one, but, from the stories that I have heard from Thalia, it’s good to have a friend with you whenever you want.” Monica frowned, trying to comfort the Prince.

“It’s not that I’m nervous, I just...” Gar trailed off, sighing and closing his eyes.

“Just what? Come on, Prince Bluemoon, you can trust me.”

“Never mind. I’m coming.” Gar held what he was going to say and stood up to face what was inevitable. If he had a Gaurd, that meant that he would have to fight.

It’s wasn't like he didn’t like to fight. Well, that’s a lie. Nobody likes to fight. It was just that he didn’t like to fight even less than a normal person. He was afraid of what would happen if he picked up a sword.

The last time he picked up a sword, bad things had happened. Very, very bad things had happened.

He pressed his palms to his eyes and groaned.

“Prince Bluemoon, are you ok?” Monica turned around from her vigorous cleaning and looked at him with concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Gar stood up and grabbed his uniform. She looked at him, squinting in deep thought. He knew she didn’t believe him. He knew her magic.

She sighed, shaking her head.

“You have to learn to trust me, Prince Bluemoon. Until you meet your Gaurd, I’m about the only person you can trust in this castle.”

Gar nodded silently before closing the door to his bathroom and stripping down to his undergarments.

He did trust Monica. He really did. But, some secrets just can’t get out.

He pulled on his pants and thermal shirt. It was the beginning of winter, and now, instead of seeing the bright greens of spring and summer, he saw the dull browns and grays of the dreary months to come. He walked out of his bathroom to see Monica still cleaning up.

“Monica? What’s up?” He walked behind her, trying to find the thing that she was so worried about. He couldn’t see anything.

“Oh, nothing, Sir. Now, hurry! Your Gaurd must be turning impatient!” Monica turned around, eyes wide, and ushered him out of the room, leaving him both confused and nervous.

Gar sighed again, looking down the lengthy hallway. _I_ _hope he’s atleast nice._ Gar thought as he made the long journey down to the throne room.

The walk there was quite a long one, and that gave Gar some time to think.

 _Maybe, if I tell them that I’m weak in my sword hand, they wont make me hold a weapon._ He thought, trying to find a loophole where he didn’t have to hold any sort of blade.

 _Maybe, if-_ “Gar!” Gars head jerked up to see his dads smiling face in front of him. He apparently had been on some sort of mental autopilot, because he got here pretty fast.

Gar froze when he saw a person standing next to the King. His dad followed his gaze and laughed when his eyes landed on the scrawny boy that was beside him.

”Oh, yes, Gar! Thank you for reminding me!” The King exclaimed, and Gars stomach churned with uneasiness. His father wasn’t doing well with trying to ‘make it comfortable’.

Gar didn’t realize that he was staring until the boy shifted on his feet, obviously nervous.

”This is Patrck, your Gaurdian. Patrck, this is Prince Bluemoon, the man you must protect.” The King cheerfully introduced, although it didn’t do anything.

The two kept staring at each other in awkwardness, and the King let out a forced chuckle.

”If I would’ve know that you two would be talking this much, I would have given you your own room.” The King joked, grinning with an uneasy smile.

Finally, Gar was done with the constant staring and tried to break the tension.

”Hello, uh, Pat. If it’s ok to call you that, of course.” Gar stuttered, sticking out his hand in desperation to make something happen.

”You can call me whatever you want, your majesty.” Pat shakily shook Gars hand, and Gar could feel a wave of electricity hit him.

Gar jumped slightly and swore, looking at his frizzled arm hairs. Pat did almost the same, except his arms were fine. It was his mind that hurt.

”I am so sorry, sir!” Patrck exclaimed, looking as if he wanted to help but knew that if he touched Gar, then he would make it worse.

”It’s Fine, Sir Patrck.” Gar said through gritted teeth. The pain was easing, atleast.

”I’m sorry!” The Gaurd apologized again. “I’m still learning how to control my magic!”

”Atleast I’ll have your electricity magic on my side. I’d hate to have that happen to me on the battle field!” Gar joked, and a nervous grin broke out on Pats face.

”I’m not even sure what your magic is, but it would suck to have that happen!” Pat shook his head and chuckled.

Gars smile turned to a frown for a second, but it quickly turned back.

”I’m glad you boys are getting along so well. Now, go and chatter somewhere else. The Lord of Lascon is coming in soon, and I’d rather not have you shock him.” The King laughed, and the boys walked out of the throne room with bright smiles on their faces and lots of things to talk about.


	2. Serious Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The King and the Lord have a pretty serious conversation. Pat and Gar bond more.

The King watched his son and his Gaurd walk out the throne room with a small smile on his face. He knew they were going to be a good match. But, sadly, life had more pressing matters at the moment.

”Sir? The Lord of Lascon is here.” His servant, Jacob, bowed in front of him. Next to him was a man dressed in gray.

”Hello, Sir.” The Lord bowed, and the King stood up and did a half-bow back.

”Greetings, Lord Barnes. Please, take a seat and tell me how the young boy doing.” The King gestured to a chair next to his throne, and the Lord bowed again before taking a seat.

”Wade has been developing well. I am very pleased with his progress. In the next moon or so, he should be getting his Gaurd.” Lord Barnes said, a sad smile on his tired face.

”Margret would be quite pleased.” The King nodded, resting a hand on the Lords shoulder. Lady Margret had died in the war three years past, and Lord Barnes was still dealing with the aftermath.

”I assume she would be, she always loved how smart and strong Wade was. I remember how much she cheered when Wade beat me in sword fighting.” The Lord sighed, looking down at his feel. “But, we are not here to talk about my heir. I came to discuss something darker.”

The King gave Lord Barnes a nod, urging him to continue.

”One of our young horse caretakers has spotted a faint trace of demon residue just outside of Sevions limits.” 

The King was silent. We’re the demons really brave enough to settle right outside the capital?

”I Have a feeling that they’re up to no good, your majesty. I came to Blutesa to discuss war plans with you, just in case they decide to attack again, just like-“ Lord Barnes stopped and hastily wiped a tear off of his cheek.

”I won’t let either of our heirs die, Kevin. I promise.” The King solemnly said, placing a hand over his heart.

—

“Woah!” Pat exclaimed as Gar showed him his room.

”I know right?” Gar laughed at his Gaurds gaping mouth. 

Thankfully, Monica had finished cleaning up whatever she was cleaning. She had also straightened out his bed and his collection of toy dogs.

He didn’t know why he liked the small sculptures. Maybe it was because they could fit in his pocket.

Gar was just about to show Pat a small stone Corgi when his live one came running at full speed towards him.

”Oh! Hey, Pat! Come here!” Gar called. Pat, who had been looking out the window, turned his head to look at his Prince.

”Yeah? Oh my god! It’s a dog!” Pat exclaimed, whipping around. Dante ran (more like bounced) over to Pat and began sniffing his feet.

”Oh! He’s just so cute!” Pat knelt down and scritched Dantes ears, causing Dantes tail to thump madly on the floor.

”Glad he likes you, you’re gonna be spending a lot of time with me now.” Gar laughed. Dante just borked and licked Pats hand.

—

A shadowy figure walked out of the castle undetected, frowning. Or, as close to frowning as his smoky body would permit.

They had already found out about them, and that was bad. What was even worse was that the Prince had already gotten a Gaurd.

“Snow!” A loud voice yelled, and Snow flinched.

“Yes, my liege?” Snow bowed, his form shifting and billowing.

“Did you fail to kill the boy? I do not feel a weakness in the magic!” The voice boomed, making Snows body flitter.

“No, my liege. He has already received his Gaurd. I can not attack him now. And-“ Snow stopped, shivering at the Ladys cold stare.

“And what? Spit it out, man!” The Lady boomed.

“They have already sensed our presence. It will not be long until the hunt us down.” Snows voice shook.

“Then don’t kill the boy. Take his sister. If we take her, he will come right into our hands and he will soon follow us and obey us.”

“Ma’am! We can’t touch mortals or we kill them!” Snow exclaimed, his head jolting up from its bowed placement.

“Then I will just work my magic. Go now, and do not fail me!” Snow could see a ghostly smile through the eerie darkness.

—

“Who’s room is that?” Pat asked, pointing to the room directly vertical from his own.

“My sister, Thalia, and her Gaurd live there.” Gar explained.

“Live there? Don’t you mean sleep there?” Pat asked, walking up to the door.

“Nope. They pretty much live in there.” Gar joked, a smile on his face. “The only time they come out is for food.”

“Man, can we do that?” Pats eyes glimmered with amusement.

“I wish! Anyway, I’ll see if she’s up yet.” Gar knocked on her door. There was no response.

“Hey, Thalia-“ Gar turned the door knob. The door swung open and nobody was there. Neither her nor her Gaurd were there.

“D-d-demon residue.” Pat whispered behind him, pointing at a purple stain on the blue sheets.


	3. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia and her Gaurd are captured by the demons. Pat and Gar confront the King.

“Let me go!” Thalia squirmed, causing the ice cold hands holding her wrists to tighten.

“Soon.” The voice was just above a whisper, and close enough to cause shivers to go down her spine.

The person pushed her forward, making her stumble and trip on her tied feet. All she could see was black, the blindfold that they placed on her eyes kept her from seeing what she tripped on.

“Snow.” 

What? Winter had just begun! How was there snow already?

“What do you mean?” She asked her captor, trying to move her arms to reach her Gaurd, who was walking silently next to her.

“My name is Snow. Thought you might want to know that.” The voice said. He abruptly stopped, causing both Thalia and the Gaurd to jolt back.

“We’re here. Now, if you stop scowling at me and actually cooperate, I can unchain you and take off your blindfold.” Snows airy voice said, and Thalia sighed before relaxing her face and waiting for him to release her.

She felt the chains drop, and soon she could see again. She whipped her head around, trying to see Snow. All she saw was a Shade.

“Hello.” Snow said, forming a hand with his smokey body and waving.

“Hi.......” Thalia wondered how many times she got knocked on her head on the way here. But, one glance at Gabbie made her realize that she really was in front of a demon.

“I wasn’t supposed to help you yet, but I didn’t want you getting hurt. The path to the camp is quite overgrown.” Snow paused, glancing down what looked like a trail. “Oh, and don’t try to escape. There are always soldiers patrolling the border. Actual, solid soldiers that aren’t as airy as I am. Or as nice.”

Thalia thought she could see a small hint of a smile, although it was quite hard to tell whether he was grinning or if it was just a random strand of smoke.

“Why did you take us here. Why did you take Thalia here? I don’t understand why you would want her. She’s not even the heir.” Gabbie spoke the first words that she had said since they had left the castle.

“Yes, but she is bait. And don’t feel honored that I took you too. I just didn’t want any witnesses.” Snow ushered them down a path, and he was right about it being overgrown.

There were branches and roots sticking out everywhere, along with the occasional raspberry bush. Suddenly, Thalia was greatful for Snows kindness. If they had still been chained and blind, they would of gotten very much scratched up.

“Oh no.” Thalia heard Gabbie gasp from her right, and she looked up in confusion. Then, horror took place on her face. In front of them were atleast 300 other people, all of them beaten and worn and working their hearts out.

“Welcome to Camp Destron.” Snow solemnly said as he led them to what seemed like a demonic temple.

—

“Why did this have to happen on my first day?” Pat groaned, walking infront of Gar to look at the stain.

“I’m sorry Pat. Just, what are we going to do?” Gar asked, fear slowly taking over common sense. 

His sister was gone. She was captured by demons. But for what? He was the heir, not her? Why would they want her?

“We’re gonna tell the king, of course!” Par exlaimed, looking up from the evestigation. 

“Is that really necessary? I mean, we could go after it.” Gar argued, yet again, not thinking.

“Are you delusional? We can’t go after a demon on our own! That will end up with both the heirs captured and their Gaurds!” Pat shook his head. “No, we have to tell your father.”

Gar sighed and nodded. Pat was right. No matter how much Gar wanted to go after his sister, he had to think. He wasn’t going to make a good king if he just dives into things without thinking them through.

“Let’s go, although I think he’s still talking to the Lord of Lascon.” Gar led Pat out of Thalia’s room, taking one last glance at her blue blankets. “I’ll find you, Thalia. I promise.” Gar whispered under his breath before turning around and running after Pat.

They quickly walked through the long and winding walls of the castle. When they got to the throne room, though, neither his dad nor the Lord of Lascon were there.

“They may be outside. Come on, we have to tell him.” Pat gestured, and they both ran outside. Instead of the King, they found two boys around Gars age on horses.

“Hello? Do you know where the King is? I must speak to him.” The taller boy said. On his red suit, he had a crest of a crown on top of a 7.

“No, Sir. That’s why we were out here. I’m Prince Bluemoon.” Gar bowed. Pat stood still, his mouth hanging open.

“Pat! Bow!” Gar hissed, and Pat snapped out of his daze and hastily bowed.

“Greetings, Prince Bluemoon. I am Heir Barnes, and this is my horse handler, Jeremy.” The Heir also bowed.

“You can just call me Jp, Wade gets too formal with these kinds of things.” Jp smiled, placing his hand on his heart and doing half a bow.

“I do not get too formal, Jp! This is how you’re supposed to address royalty!” Wade exclaimed, his face turning a bright red.

“It’s fine, Wade, is it? You can just call me Gar. This is Patrck, or Pat, my protector.” Gar grinned welcomingly.

“Oh my god! I know you! I’ve heard so many stories about the Lords Son! Like how you killed a demon single-handedly!” Pat bursted out, his eyes literally almost forming hearts.

“It wasn’t single-handedly, it was a two hand sword. And I was pretty beaten up after it.” Wade flushed, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away.

Pat looked like he was about to say more, but Gar stopped him.

“Heir Barnes, or Wade, since you’re here and we can’t find our parents, we must tell you. Princess Thalia, my sister, and her Gaurd, were both captured by demons.” Gar bowed his head, his eyes stinging at the last sentence.

“I am sorry, Prince. I came here to share similar information. I came to tell the King that my sister, Ashley, was stolen by demons as well.” Wade also bowed his head, but he didn’t hold back the flow of tears that threatened to fall.


	4. Demon Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia meets the wardens.

“What-what is this place?” Thalia whispered, stopping outside of what seemed to be a dark purple temple.

“This is where My Lady will decide where you will rest.” Snow said, urging us forward again.

“You make it sound like we’re gonna die.” Thalia said in a panicked voice, digging her heals into the ground as he pushed her.

“Trust me, after this, you will wish you were dead.” A diffrent voice spoke to her left.

“Don’t scare the poor girl, Molly.” Snow shook his head, or what’s seemed to be his head.

“Why not? You scared me when I first came here.” The girl, Molly shrugged. She looked as if she was pretty at some point it time.

Not that she wasn’t pretty now, but now she had a gray-blonde hair and bright, bright neon blue eyes. Everything about her seemed to have tint of gray and was covered in soot and dirt. Maybe that’s why she was so gray. Maybe it’s dust.

“Well, That was in the past. And, you were fighting against us.” Snow shrugged, placing his hands on Thalia and Gabbie’s backs again.

“Yes, I was fighting back! Thanks to you, I lost my family!” Molly yelled, startling several other people who were working.

“Get back to work. I don’t want to start anything right now.” Snow growled, glaring at her.

“How am I supposed to work? My leg is infected. You say you’re nice, yet you don’t even care about our health.” Molly sighed, turning away and picking up a pickaxe. She limped away defiantly towards an opening in the rock.

“Come on, let’s go. We’ve already wasted enough time.” Snow muttered, leading us into the dreadful building.

They walked into the building. It was dark. Very, very dark.

“Justin!” Snow yelled, startling her and Gabbie horribly.

“What do you want, Snow? I’m expecting the heiress any time now.” The man, Justin, said.

“Piya, I have the heiress.” Snow sighed, leading her and Gabbie into a purple room.

“Oh, I mean the other one. From Lascon. But, here, I’ll see if Jesse can set up camp for these two.” The man, Justin (or Piya?) said.

A few seconds later, Piya yelled back, “Yeah, you can take them to camp 6.”

Snow nodded and led us through a big, wooden door. After we went through it, a bright light blinded them for a second.

Then, after they regained their sight, they gasped.

In front of them was a field covering in makeshift tents and soot covered grass.

“We have to stay here?” Gabbie asked with a little bit more attitude than she meant.

“Yes, but be thankful. Atleast you’re not sleeping in the mines.” Snow said.

He took us to a clear patch of grass where the girl that they met earlier was.

“Oh, yay, people.” Molly said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Molly, who are these people?” A blonde man asked after crawling out of the tent.

“I’m Princess Thalia, and this is my Gaurd Gabbie.” Thalia introduced, and the mans face turned scornful.

“Well hello, your highness. I’m Daniel, but you can call me Dan. Don’t worry about your high title. Ranks don’t matter here.” He grimly smiled.

“Now, I suggest that you and your friend should build your tent. It gets cold at night.”

“We have to build it?” Thalia gaped, although Gabbie didn’t seem to mind.

“Yes, Princess. You have to build it.” Dan sighed before beginning to make a fire.

Thalia swallowed uncertainly before going to look for supplies. She was unaware that someone was following her.

She heard a leaf crunch behind her and she screamed.

“I’m sorry, Thalia, for the way Dans acting. His close friend, Nin, has been claimed. He’s not really feeling good.” Molly said, bowing her head.

“It’s ok, most people act that way with me. They treat my brother fine, but I was my fathers step-child. They didn’t really like the fact that there was more than one bloodline in nobility.” Thalia sighed, and Gabbie nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I just wanted to ask you something. Have you heard anything from Heir Barnes? Wade Barnes?” Molly asked, looking at them with big, scared eyes.

“No, I’m sorry. The last time I saw him, he was just a small child.” Thalia apologized. “But, what do you mean Nin was ‘claimed’?”

“If a person is here long enough, the spiritual residue that the demons leave effect the person, causing them to turn into a demon. Nin, who worked as a slave directly for The Queen, was claimed faster than most people.” Molly’s aqua eyes watered.

Thalia was about to say something when she heard Dan yell something back at camp.

“Molly! They have Ashley! They have Ashley! She’s here!”


	5. Time Flies When You’re Working Hard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia meets Ashley. They work together to build all the tents after a demon destroys them.

Molly looked away from me and Gabbie with her mouth hanging open.

“Guys, you stay here and find some more wood. Im going back to camp.” She whispered before sprinting off in the direction of the camp.

Thalia’s heart began to beat in her chest. Ashley? Wasn’t she Wades sister? Heiress Ashley?

“They have the Heiress.” Gabbie confirmed her thoughts.

“Why are they capturing us? We’re not even Heirs, and our magic is considerably weaker.” Thalia asked, looking down at her trembling hands.

“I don’t know, Thal. I just don’t know. But, come on. We have to look for wood. I’d rather not sleep on the grass tonight.” Gabbie grimly smiled, walking away in search for the lumber that they needed.

Thalia wandered uselessly around, thinking back to what Snow had said when they first arrived here. She was bait. For who? Her brother? Gar was too smart for that.

Unless.....

They knew. They knew about what happened. They knew that if he came here, he would lose control.

Panic filled Thalia’s mind. 

“Gabbie! Gabbie!” She yelled, searching around for the brunette girl.

“What is it? Is there a spider?” Gabbie’s hand sparkled with a dark gray.

“No, but why is that your first concern?” She asked, and Gabbie just awkwardly grinned and shrugged.

“Anyway, I know why we’re here. We need to tell warn Gar.” Thalia’s breaths were coming in short gasps, her panicking making it hard to breath.

Gabbie placed her hand on Thalia’s shoulder, and suddenly, she felt warm magic swarm her blood stream. Seconds later and she could breath again.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Thalia looked up, her worried eyes meeting Gabbie’s stone cold ones.

“If Gars in trouble, then I will do anything to help you look for him, even if it means I have to do that every once in a while.” Gabbie said, sounding slightly more drained than she had a few seconds ago.

Thalia sighed and shook her head before helping Gabbie carry her load of wood back to the camp.

When they arrived, they saw a red haired female sitting on a log.

“Ashley!” Thalia gasped, almost dropping her handful of wood.

Ashley looked up, her eyes sparkling with sadness.

“Oh, hey Thal. Been a long time, hasn’t it?” She sighed, and Thalia put down the lumber so that she could sit next to her friend.

“You two know each other?” Dan asked, confused.

Ashley nodded, and a small smile graced her face.

“Yes, since I was the Heiress and she was the Princess, we got to spend a lot of time around each other.”

Thalia was about to say something, but, again, she was interrupted.

“Molly!” Somebody yelled, and the blonde flinched.

In came a stomping demon. But, instead of being almost translucent like Snow was, this one had a dark, dark body. And bright red eyes.

“Y-yes, Jesse?” Molly stuttered, and the tall demon grinned.

“They want you in the mines.” He said.

Molly didn’t move, paralyzed by fear.

“Now!” The demon roared, forming a purple ball of magic and chucking it at her tent.

She bolted up and raced towards the mines again.

“Good luck rebuilding that.” The dark man smirked before poofing away.

“Goddamnit.” Dan sighed, resting his face in his hands.

“It’s ok, Dan. Me and Thalia will rebuild the tent.” Gabbie said, placing her hand on his arm. She released enough magic to make him feel better, and he tiredly smiled at them.

“Thank you.” He murmured before staring back at the ground.

“Well, what are we going to do? We don’t even know how to build these things!” Thalia whispered to her Gaurd.

“Maybe you don’t, but I do. We don’t just sit around and do nothing when we are in training.” Gabbie cheekily smiled.

“Are you implying something, Sorient?” Thalia smiled.

“Nooo.” Gabbie laughed before bolting away to start building.

“Get back here!” Thalia laughed, forgetting about her problems for a little bit and chasing after her friend.


	6. Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wade and Gar find the King and the Lord and beg for them to let them go and find their sisters. They get into a big fight.

Gars eyes widened at Wades news.

“Your Sister is gone too, Heir Barnes? But I thought she stayed in her quarters!” Gar exclaimed.

“And so did yours, did she not?” Wade shook his head and looked away.

“Yes, but-“

“Guys.” Jp spoke up, and they all looked at him.

“I think that we should try and find the Lord and the King. We won’t solve anything by just standing here.” Jp blushed, looking uncomfortable from all the attention.

Pat nodded, looking as if he were thinking.

“Maybe they are in the courtyard talking. Let’s go and see.” Gars Gaurd finally spoke, and they all followed him as they walked towards a gate covering in vines.

They could hear hushed voices coming from the over-grown garden as Gar used his key to open the rusty gate.

They all looked at each other before continuing.

They crept forward, straining their ears to hear the conversation that was going on.

“.............people can’t know that Gar is-“ Gars eyes widened as he tripped, causing a lot of noise.

The talking stopped, and he silently cheered before looking up to see his dads face.

“Garuku, my boy. I thought I taught you not to eavesdrop.” The King disappointedly shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Sir. But, the Heir of Lascon is here, and both he and I have troubling news.” Gar apologized, gesturing for the others to walk out.

Wade looked at the Lord with and uneasy and apologetic smile.

“Wade? What are you doing here! I thought I told Martha to keep you confined to your quarters!” The Lord panicked, but the King placed a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

“Calm down, Lucas. Gar has said that he and your boy have bad news. Let us hear it.” The last part was directed to him and Wade, so Gar started.

“Thalia has been captured by what we think are demons.” Gar said, and the King seemed to choke on his grim smile.

“Is Gabbie gone too?” The question was a simple one, but the answer would decide Thalia’s Gaurds fate.

“Yes, they were both captured.” Gar nodded before letting Wade pipe up.

“And Ashley and her Gaurd have also been captured by demons.” Wade reported, something flashing in his eyes.

The Lord of Lascon had a worse reaction than the King did.

“They took Ashley and Maria?” The Lords voice quivered, and Gar only just now realized that he looked as if he had been shedding some tears.

“Yes.” 

They all stood in silence. Wade, Pat, Gar, and Jp looked uncertainly at each other, almost as if they were trying to decided something just by glancing.

The Lord looked as if he would weep right on the spot, and the King had a hard glint in his eyes.

“We will prepare the army to go and retrieve them.” The King finally spoke.

“But Sir, I would like to help!” Gar didn’t even know what he was saying until it came out. What was he thinking? He would have to hold a blade!

“And I as well!” Wade added, his face set in determination.

“I must go where Gar goes.” Pat spoke.

“I am as close to a Gaurd as Wade can get right now, so I must go along with them.” Jp whispered, and although his words sounded brave, he had fear painted freely on his face.

“Enough!” The King exclaimed, making them all jump.

“None of you are going anywhere! You are not nearly trained enough!”

“But they are our sisters!” Both Wade and Gar yelled at the same time.

“I do not care! You are not going and that’s the end of it!” The King roared, and Gar flinched.

“Come on, guys, let’s go up to my room.” Gar sighed before turning around and walking out.

A little while later, they were in Gars room again.

“Wade, how much supplies and clothing did you bring?” Gar piped up.

“Atleast a weeks worth, why?” Jp answered, puzzled.

“You better pack them up again and be ready by eight tonight. We’re going on a rescue mission.”


	7. Don’t Go To Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gar shouldn’t go to sleep. But, he must, even though some hidden things are awaiting him.

Gar layed in his bed, looking up at the ceiling. He knew he couldn’t go to sleep, but his tiredness was slowly taking over.

He could hear Wades soft snores coming from the bed next to him.

He’s lucky, Gar thought. He doesn’t have to worry.

Gar sighed and closed his eyes. No matter what, he had to give in and sleep. No matter how much he didn’t want to.

He could slowly feel himself drifting off, and he mentally prepared himself.

—

He was thrown into a dark cave. He could barely see anything. He looked down at his hands, which were atleast 10 times smaller. And more feminine.

A scream erupted from the other side of the enclosure, and his head bolted up, causing brown hair to whip in his face.

Ok, so I’m a girl.

His eyes searched the darkness, trying to find the source of the blood curdling noise.

He caught something in his sight. A small, tanned boy surrounded by purple.

He could hear a feminine voice calling and crying, and soon he saw a woman running towards the boy. A man came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Athopia, stay here. We’ll be right back.” He said, and Gars eyes opened wide. Who the heck was Athopia and why was he her?

Then, the man ran towards the boy. Gar tried to follow him, but he couldn’t. So, all he could do was watch as the boy was dealt with.

“Glacia, what happened?” He heard the man say, and the woman responded with a shaky shrug.

“I don’t know what to do, Daniel. His life energy has been pulled to pieces, and what is left is being taken away as we speak.”

“Can’t you do something? Anything?” He cried, covering his face as his body shook.

“I-I can’t.”

“I can.” A voice that wasn’t his spoke. The man and woman looked at him in horror.

“No, Athopia, I won’t let you.” The man said, and Gar recognized the look that he had.

“Would you rather have a useless Heiress or the Heir of your kingdom?” She, he asked.

New tears sprang to the mans face, but he didn’t make any more objections.

“If Mom can draw the energy out of me, then it will be enough to save him. He will still have reminiscence of the demon magic, but he will be alive. But, with me combining my energy with his, he won’t be able to hold a blade. Even worse, he won’t remember me. That is a risk that I am willing to take.” She bowed her head before moving next to him.

This was the first time that Gar was able to get a clear look of the boys face. It looked like-

“Gar.” What?

“Gar!” 

—

He jolted awake, looked around frantically.

“Sorry, man. We have to get moving, it’s quarter to 8.” Jp apologized, and Gar nodded his head. What was that dream? And who was that boy?

“Ok. I’ll get my stuff.” Gar said, standing up and preparing his pack.

“Now, who wants to wake up Wade?” Jp looked at the slumbering giant. That might take a while.


	8. Tents

By the time Thalia and Gabbie had enough wood to build the tents back up, it was already past 10.

“Took you long enough.” Dan nodded at them before looking back down at the fire he was making.

“Wow. I’m sorry. I mean, we didn’t mean to take that long.” Gabbie apologized, noticing that Thalia’s face was a bright red.

“It’s ok. Molly’s not back yet either. Might as well get building, though. She’s not gonna be happy with sleeping on the dirt.” He sighed, cracking his knuckles before standing up. “I’m going in search for firewood. I’ll be back.”

“But we have wood right-“ Dan didn’t even pay Thalia any attention, he just kept walking.

“Come on, Thal. Let’s get building. Ashley should be back soon as well, might as well give her somewhere to sleep tonight.” Gabbie smiled before putting down the wood and sorting it into piles.

Thalia decided to help out, sorting the small sticks from the big sticks, sorting skinny from thick, sorting round from flat. It too quite a while, but finally, they were done.

“So, uh, do you really know how to build one of these?” Thalia asked after they finished, looking at the enormous piles of wood that were in front of them.

“No, but we can try.” Gabbie frowned, picking up a stick that looked big enough to be a support.

“Here. You guys are gonna take too long.” Somebody said behind them, and they both whipped around to find Snow hovering by the pile of small sticks.

“Um, no offense, but why are you here? Dan is going to be back any second now…” Thalia asked, making quick glances at the line of trees that Dan had disappeared in.

“He’s not going to be back for a while if he is going where I think he’s going.” Snow shook his airy head before making a stick levitate.

“How do you know where he is?” She asked, confused.

“Because I was the one who showed him where it is. I’m not all bad, you know. There are definitely worse demons.” The apparition said, laying sticks on the ground in what seemed to be a floor pattern.

Thalia closed her mouth and watched in awe as Snow built the tents. He did it so easily, almost as if his body was actually solid and not a gas. The tents that he made also looked a lot different than the ones that were there previously.

“Um, Snow? Why do they look different?” Gabbie asked, eyeing the buildings with an unfamiliar look.

“Oh crap, you’re right. Um, I can’t change them right now.” Snow seemed to grimace.

“Don’t you think the guards will realize that they are tripe tents? It’s pretty noticeable.” She argued, and Thalia looked at her with a questioning gaze. What in the world were tripe tents?

Snows form seemed to jump when Gabbie said those words.

“How do you know about tripe tents? Those were made way before you were born!” He gasped, looking at Gabbie with a new light in his eyes.

“I, um, study?” She shuffled around, and Thalia could tell that there was something that her Guard wasn’t telling her.

Snow didn’t look convinced either, but he decided to let it slide, apparently, because he backed off of the topic.

“Anyway, I can fix it tomorrow. It’s too dark for them to see it right now. Good night.” He nodded before disappearing.

“Gabbie.” Thalia turned to her Guard. “What are tripe tents?”

“Gabbie audibly swallowed before looking down at her feet.

“Victims of demon-induced injuries were put in them to keep the demon magic in and the demons out. Demons cannot enter nor destroy them.” She sighed, looking up at Thalia with glimmering eyes.

“Thalia, Snow didn’t ‘accidently’ make those tents. He knows that something's going to happen. We need to hurry and get out of here before it does.”

—

“Wade?” Gar said, shaking the big man.

“Five more minutes...” he grumbled, turning on his side and pushing Gar away.

“I don’t think Ashley is going to wait five minutes for you when she’s only hours away from her death. Days, if we’re lucky. We need to locate her and Thalia as fast as possible and get them out.” Gar argued, and that seemed to shake Wade out of sleep.

“Ok! Ok, I’m done. If we pack up quickly, we will be able to get on horses and out of here by 8:10.” He said, jumping up and stumbling over his leather bag.

“Well, The faster we are, the better. We currently have no idea where the demon camp even is, nor how to find one.” Pat frowned, waving Jp over to look at a map.


	9. Thinking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting for a while guys D: here’s chapter for y’all, stay amazing!

Patrck may have acted like he was ok and brave and everything when they found the ‘plasma’ and when they decided to go hunting for Thalia, Ashley, Gabbie, and Dayna (and, apparently Wades good friend Molly as well), But looks could be deceiving.

 

Pat was a nervous wreck when everybody decided to go to sleep. He didn’t want to tell anyone either, especially not Gar. He had just became the prince's Guard today, and he didn’t want to seem lowly and afraid in front of his charge and royalty.

 

So, he just sat in the room and thought about things. About Marie.

 

Marie was another Guard who was training with him before he got sent to the castle. They had become close friends, and parting was one of the hardest things that they had to do. The Trainers would scoff about their ‘Young Love’ and tease them often. 

 

The Trainers were a group of six people (or creatures) that represented the different species. The first Trainer was, of course, a human. His name was Daniel Howell, and he was in charge of training the young Guards their mathematics.  
The second Trainer was a Centaur by the name of Jesse Crump, but he preferred to be called Crumpler. He was in charge of teaching them fighting skills. Although, he only had a bow and hated handling blades, so the third Trainer, Who was a forest nymph, had to train sword fighting.

 

The third Trainer, Who was mentioned earlier, was a forest nymph by the name of Nin. Nobody knew her real name, and everybody was too afraid of her to try and find out. She was, by far, the scariest Trainer because she had a ‘no-nonsense’ attitude and would punished you if you asked a stupid question that was irrelevant to the topic of sword fighting.

 

The fourth Trainer was a dragon whose name was Ethan Nestor. He had bright blue scales and taught about the different plants and animals of the wild. He loved nature and was probably the most passionate Trainer out of all six. He had two forms, a dragon and a ‘human’ with bright blue hair and scales down his arms, legs, and chest.

 

The fifth Trainer was a gargoyle of sorts. Him and his kind were the people that watched over the kingdoms main buildings, sitting on their perch and making sure that nobody would sneak up on them. His name was Tyler Scheid, although he was also called ‘Stone-Faced Tyler’ behind his back. He taught them about the purpose of camouflage and the need to watch and observe.

 

The sixth and last Trainer was the second strongest Trainer out of all six (the first being Ethan). He was, surprisingly, a demon. His name was Snow, and he was the most morbid, mysterious, and trustworthy person someone could ever meet. Before Pat fully graduated from training, Snow had been sent out to be a ‘spy’ for the Divisions. Before he left, he was in charge of teaching history. After he left, a human-fae hybrid by the name of Phil Lester took his place.

 

Remembering all those people made Pats heart hurt, because it was like he was remembering his home. He was taken from his actual house when he was very small, and he never got to know any of his family. The Guards that he knew had said that on the day that he was bound to Gar, he would be able to to meet his parents and any siblings that he had.

 

But that was in three years, and three years was a long time. Three years was like a trial period for him, and if things didn’t work out, then he would be sent back, replaced, and he would have to wait for another noble.

 

Nobody would tell him what the Binding was like either, which scared him. The Trainers would smack anybody who let the words leave their lips, and everybody else told him that he would have to wait and see.

 

But what if it didn’t work out? What if Gar died, or if they didn’t get along, or if a better Gaurd came along and had to replace him? Every Guard or Knight of the Divisions was trained by the Trainers, so that meant that he had competition. And lots of it.  
There were over 1,000 Knights and Guards in this very castle, and if Gar liked them more than him-

 

He didn’t want to think about that.

 

“Pat?” Jps voice broke through his thinking, and he blinked.

 

“Yeah, Jp? What’s up?” He asked, sitting up and stretching.

 

“We have to wake up Gar and Wade, it’s time to go.”


	10. Explainations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What? Two updates in a week? Jinx! You’re going crazy!

“Is everybody ready to go?” Gar asked, turning around on his horse one last time and letting the reins fall slightly from his hands.

“We’ve been ready to go for the past fifteen minutes, Gar. Come on, the patrol will be around again soon.” Pat put a hand on his princes shoulder, and Gar sighed before picking the reins back up.

“Gar, are you ok? One of us can take the lead if you need to rest. You don’t need to be in charge.” Wade asked, guiding his horse closer to Gars.

“And you don’t have to be in this trip, yet I’m still letting you come. Back down, Heir. Or else I’ll force you to go back under princes orders. The Divisions don’t need a second Heiress.” Gar snapped, kicking his horses side to make it go into a fast trot.  
Wades eyes widened with pain before turning cold. He set his mouth in a firm line before slowing down to join Jp and his horse, Pickle.

“Gar-“ Jp tried to say, confused at the sudden conflict.

“Shut up! The patrol will hear you!” He hissed before bending his back so that his stomach touched the chestnut hair of his horse.

They could hear footsteps, or hoovesteps, as the patrol rounded a corner. Then, they faded away again, and everybody took a breath.

“Come on, let’s go.” Gar said through clenched teeth, forcing his horse into a gallop.

“Gar! Wait up!” Pat cried in a hushed voice, trying to catch up.

“What’s wrong?” Gar didn’t even realize that Jp had been beside him, and he physically flinched.

“Nothing.” He said with a stern voice, not even looking at the young male.

“Gar.” Jp turned his horse so that it stood in front of Gars.

“Move.” He commanded.

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong. You don’t have to tell the others, but I want to know so I can help you.”

Gar sighed, putting his head in his hands.

“Hey! Gar! Wade and I are gonna set up camp! It’s too late to keep traveling, bandits could be out.” He heard Pat call, and he looked up to nod.

“Fine, Jp. I’ll tell you. Just, please don’t tell the others? I don’t want them to think lowly of me.” Gar sighed again.

Jp waited for him to continue, before realizing that he was waiting for a gesture.

“Sure- I mean, of course.” Jp agreed, getting off of his horse and sitting down cross-legged. Gar did the same, and soon they were facing each other.

“This started to glow.” Gar pulled his stone out of his pocket, which was, indeed, starting to glow a bright blue.

“What does that mean?” Jp asked, looking at the stone intently.

“Every male noble, whether it be a Prince or Heir, is given a stone like this one on their eighth birthday. I could actually bet that Wade has his on him as well.” Gar started.

“It really doesn’t do anything until your sixteenth birthday, where it makes you part of the royal bloodline. That means that after you turn sixteen, you are officially the Heir to the throne. After that, it stays silent for hopefully many more years. But, if it begins to glow, that means that the current Lord or King are becoming unable to rule or they are dying. If that happens, then your stone begins to glow.”

“And when the current ruler becomes incapable of ruling, it begins to flash. First slow, then faster. The faster it gets, the less time you have before you become ruler. When it starts flashing at twenty flashes per minute, that means that you need to learn the spells to keep up the magical barrier around the Division. And once it stops flashing completely, that means that you are now the official ruler of your Division.”

“But even after you become the ‘official’ ruler, you need a second stone to activate the first spell. That’s why most royalty is married off so young. They need to have that other person so that they can preform the spells. Then, after the marriage spells have settled, the stones are linked to each other and either person, Husband or Wife, can preform the spells. I- My dad didn’t want me married off so soon, even though the laws in Dauntaff are that I can get married off as soon as 17. But I have to hurry now, because without any sort of lover, I won’t be able to protect my people.” Gar choked up, tears swelling in his eyes.

“And that’s why you and Wade need to find Thalia and Ashley as soon as possible?” Jp whispered, his blue eyes connecting with Gars brown ones.

“Yes, because if we don’t, not one, but two Divisions will be defenseless.”

Gar hushed for a moment, letting the tears fall.

“And that’s why I’m being snappy. I- I’m scared. I don’t want to leave my people alone, I don’t want to leave them defenseless. I’m scared that I won’t come back and I will leave my people alone.” He whimpered, and Jp hugged him close.

“Remember, Wades going through the same thing. Instead of being angry with him, try to work together. Try to be there for each other. His stone may not be glowing right now, but I’ve seen the Lord of Lascon, and I have a feeling that he is dying, and Wade is nineteen. He can’t be married off until he is atleast twenty in Lascon. Of course, he can get the ceremonies preformed before that, but I doubt it will be that easy for him to find someone.”

“Thank you, Jp.” Gar sniffled, and, for a split second, Jps hand touched the stone.

Jps eyes bolted wide in shock.

“G-Gar? Can I see the stone?” Jp asked, his voice quivering.

Gar took a moment to think about it before nodding and handing it over.

As soon as Jps hands touched it again, it began to glow a light red, which Gar thought was the color for Lascon.  
“I-I can see your dad. He looks really tired, and he’s in what seems to be the Throne Room with Lord Barnes.” Jps eyes were still wide, and then the rock turned a dark maroon.

“Ouch!” Jp threw the stone out of his hand and into Gars, where it changed back to the bright blue.

“What happened?” Gar asked, confused at what Jp had just experienced.

“It’s hard to explain. I’ve just never seen a magical item with a timer on it before.” Jp shook his head while rubbing his hands.

“What?” That made him even more confused than before.

“My magic is being able to see things that a magical item is linked to. Apparently, it is linked to your dad, and probably you as well, although it probably didn’t work because you’re right in front of me. But I’ve never touched a magical item that has a set timer for how long I can look through it’s magical link.” Jp explained before yawning.

“Alright, I guess that’s enough questions. We need to sleep if we have any hope of finding the girls soon.” Gars mind was jumbled with Jps information, but he took a moment to get Jp to bed. Sleep was probably the most important thing for them at the moment.


	11. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think I’m gonna update this book every Monday and Friday. Does that sound good?

“SNOW!” Snow flinched at the tone of voice and volume that was being used by his superior Trainer, Tyler.

“Y-Yes?” He asked, closing his eyes and waiting for the onslaught of yelling.

“You let Nin be claimed! The balance has been altered because now we only have five trainers! And, even worse,” Tyler took a huge breath.

“You let her get kidnapped in the first place! Why did you not help her?”

Snow felt a pit drop in his ‘stomach’. He knew that this was going to happen. He had just gotten finished helping Thalia and Gabbie building the tents (he still had to ask Gabbie about that), and then he remembered that it was meeting night. Great fun.

“I couldn’t help her.” The pit was weighing him down, even though there was nothing to weigh down.

“My queen- Marissa,” he accidentally slipped. He was so used to referring to her as that. 

“She would’ve know if I tried to even heal her the tiniest bit, and that would’ve blown my cover. Then you would be down two Trainers, not just one. And don’t you tell me that Phil could’ve permanently replaced me, because only pure-bloods can control their part of the magic for as long as we have. Phil wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Oh, um, no offense, Dan.” He tried to smile apologetically to Phil’s boyfriend, but Dan just nodded in understandment.

“And that’s the exact same thing with Nin,” Crumpler spoke up. “Phil can’t replace her, and the magic is becoming unbalanced because now we are down one.”

“Can’t we just find another Trainer? That’s what we did with me.” Snow asked, and even though he had no solid form and really no moisture at all, he felt like he was sweating.

“There is no way that we could find a permanent Trainer to replace her, unless you know of any candidates. That kind of magic is way too hard to come by.” Ethan shook his head.

“What are the statistics?”

“One in ten-thousand.” Said Tyler, looking up from his reports from the other Gargoyles.

One in ten-thousand. How many people were in the demon camp? Around eleven-thousand? So atleast one person had that magic. He just had to find them.

“There’s around eleven-thousand people in the demon camp currently, even though they are bringing in more people everyday. That means there is atleast one person in there that had the Trainer magic?” He asked, and although they seemed surprised about the number, they nodded.

“I can see their magic.” Ethan spoke, pointing to his green dragon eyes.

“But how am I going to get you into the camp? A dragon who has probably the strongest magic out of all of us will not go unnoticed.” Snow shook what resembled his head.

“Well, you better think of something, Snow, because if we don’t find a way to fix the magic, then there is no telling what’s going to happen.” Dan said gravely, dissmissing everybody from the meeting.

After every meeting it was always hard for Snow to get back into the camp. There was always some sort of difficulty, either with defense or patrols. He guessed that it was partly his fault, because he’s the one that suggested it.

Either way, although he had some problems, he was able to get in unnoticed and get back to Thalia’s camp where her, Ashley, Ashley’s Guard Dayna, Molly, and Dan were sitting around a camp fire. And two new people. Gabbie was sitting farther away, looking occupied with something.

Already? They were already able to capture more people? Atleast they didn’t look like royalty, he thought.

He stood in the shadows, watching them laugh and talk, and he felt a familiar feeling. The feeling of loneliness.

He had felt that way ever since he became the shade that he was, because he was never able to have friends. They would all die, generation after generation.

A flash of sparkle caught his eyes, and they widened when they saw the person that it was coming from.

Gabbie looked nervous, scared even, and there was a faint purple sparkle emitting from her finger tips. She obviously knew about it, and she was trying to hide it.

Wait, purple………

Everything seemed to click into place. She wasn’t so afraid around him because she knew him, she knew about the Tripe Tents because she was alive when they were made, and she was sparkling because-

He jumped from the shadows and grabbed her, then he dragged her back to where he was floating before.

“Snow!” She whisper-screamed, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“Are you trying to hurt Thalia? Does she know about you? Does she know that you’re a filthy-“

“Shhhhhhhhh!” She interrupted, pressing her hand to his misty mouth. That was another give away. She could touch him.

“No, I’m not trying to hurt her. I would and will protect her with my life. She doesn’t know about me, nor does she need to. It would just bring her more stress than she has currently, and that’s not good for anybody. Especially somebody that’s stuck in a demon camp. I’m bound to her, and I can’t hurt her even if I tried anyway. Besides, Gar would have my head.”

“Well, how do you plan on hiding that?” He pointed to her hands. “It’s very noticeable.”

“The same way that I’ve been doing it for the past millennia. I’ll wear my gloves. I only took them off because my hands were getting sweaty. That’s why I was sitting so far away from the others.” She pulled out worn leather gloves and slipped them onto her slender fingers.

Snow sighed and shook his head.

“How’d you become one? I’m willing to share if you are.” He finally said.

“This isn’t the first time that I’ve been to this demon camp.” Gabbie confessed.

“You were claimed? But how did you survive? Most people die.” He asked.

“Because around a millennia ago, when this camp was first made and Saron was still in charge of the demons, I was the Trainer. At that time, we only had one. The entire reason why we have six now is because when I got claimed we had no one left, so they decided to have six so that if one died, there would still be five left. That’s not going very well now because Nin died, as you know.” She explained, and Snow was shocked.

“How’d you know?” He asked, perplexed.

“One, you have the traces of magic. Two, you have the emblem on your life energy, that’s what they do when your accepted. Anyway, your turn.” She gestured to him.

“I was also here a millennia ago, although for different reasons. I was the Lord of Kerak, where Lord McLaughlin currently rules. I was captured and experimented on, because they had no human-demon hybrids at the time. I was their first prototype, hence why I’m a shade while others have physical bodies. I was a mess up. Luckily, I already had a Heir, because there was no way that people would except me as a demon.” He said.

Gabbie was silent, and Snow thought he could see tears running down her face.

“What was your name back then?” She whispered, and Snow almost didn’t hear her.

“Shawn. Shawn Tankford. We became McLaughlins later on. Why?” He asked, although he had an idea of what she was going to say. And it was not good.

I-I was Monica Fitties. I-I was the one who turned you into……” She stopped because the tears were too intense.

Snow was silent. He remembered Monica. She was being forced to inject him with the residue that demons left behind. She was the one who made him into this………...this monster.

But he didn’t blame Monica. He knew she didn’t want to do it, and it wasn’t her fault. And he didn’t blame Gabbie either.

“It’s ok.” He told her after a lot of silence. She looked up at his shady form, surprised.

“I don’t blame you. It’s alright. You’ve apologized and everything’s better. It’s-“

“Gabbie!” Thalia’s voice cut through his own, and he stopped.

“I need to go, if it’s alright with you. Something sounds wrong.” Gabbie said with urgency.

“Go and protect Thalia.” He nodded, and she raced off, leaving him to his thoughts.


	12. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ooooooooooooooo

“Thalia? What’s wrong?” Gabbie rushed back to the camp to find quite an unnerving picture.

In the middle where the campfire used to be now layed Dan, who looked like he was on the brink of death. Molly was limping around trying to help everybody, and Ashley and Dayna were once again gone. Thalia looked the most mauled up, her leg twisted in an odd position and her arm holding many bloody bites and gashes.

Blood stained the grass and the scent hung in the air, causing Gabbie to physically gag.

“What happened?” She coughed, holding back the bile that was building in the back of her throat.

“A different demon came and attacked us. D-Dan seemed to know her, but she didn’t know him. S-she told me that I wouldn’t be enough to help them, but, who are they?” Thalia had tears seeping out of her eyes, but they still had their steely glare.

“I don’t know, Thal. All I know is that I need to help you all, and fast.” Gabbie shook her head before running over to Dan, who was probably the most injured out of the bunch.

“Gabbie…..” Thalia trailed off.

“I won’t overwork myself.” She nodded to her princess before kneeling down next to the blonde. She took off her everyday gloves and put on her working gloves, cautiously looking over to see if they saw the sparkle before placing her hands on his bloodied chest and forced all of her power and life force into him.

Instantly, her vision changed, and she saw the green life threads surrounding her, as well as the light blue magic threads (which probably were ice magic threads) and the dark blue mentality threads. She also saw dark purple threads that were unraveling those threads, and they were starting to frizz and and turn to dust. She forced her yellow healing magic strings against the harming strings, leaving them broken as well.

Her threads kept attacking the demons threads, unstringing and restringing as she attacked and got attacked. After much, much effort, she was able to distinguish all of the dark purple ropes, but the green threads were still very much damaged.  
She then began the weave her own energy into his, and even though she could feel her own life force draining, she continued. Only when she was forcibly pushed away from Dan did she stop.

“Gabbie!” Thalia yelled, startling Molly, and, apparently Snow, who seemed to be assessing what appeared to be her broken leg.  
“You said that you weren’t going to overextend yourself, and yet here you are, sprawled on the ground, gasping and turning a sheet white!” She said, her voice loud and angry. Tears were spilling out of her eyes yet again, but this time they were worried and hurt.

It then dawned on her that Thalia was right. She did feel quite faint, and her breaths were coming in shot, rapid gulps.  
“Take it! Take it! As your princess and assigned noble, I command you to take it!” Thalia thrusted her arm into Gabbie’s hands, keeping it there even though she began to feel the burning sensation that happened every time before Gabbie entered somebody’s life force. Or maybe the burning sensation was just from her anger.

“No.” The warmth turned ice cold and she pushed Thalia’s arm away.

“You are weak and hurt, I am not taking anything from your life force. Even if you were at your peak health, I still wouldn’t.” She whispered, her voice sounding different to her ringing ears.

“Gabriella Sorient……” Thalia broke down into sobs, hugging her.

“You are the stupidest yet bravest Guard and friend and person that I have ever know. Just care about yourself for once. Other people matter, but so do you.” That was the last thing that Gabbie heard before she passed out from exhaustion and overextension. 

___

Dan woke up a few minutes after all of the commotion died down. His entire body hurt like he was being burnt, but besides that, he was surprised that he was alive.

Nin had strangled him. His good friend who was probably the smartest person that he knew had tried to kill him.

“Dan!” Molly yelped, jumping up from where Snow and her were sitting (for Snow, it was more like floating).

“Careful!” Snow called after her, a slight frown on his face. Molly had a splint on her leg, and Dan remembered how Nin had broken it.

“Oh, Dan. I’m so happy you’re alright.” Molly smiled, moving to hug him.

“Don’t!” He pleaded, putting a hand up to stop her. He didn’t want to seem rude, but he hurt way too much to have any sort of embrace.

“Or, right, sorry.” She apologized, frowning a bit.

“Where are Ashley and Day? And Thalia? Is Gabbie alright?” He asked, moving to sit up but then immediately regretting it. He fell back down on the warm and wet ground, and his back aches from the impact.

“Ashley and Day were taken again, Thalia is over with Gabbie, and Gabbie……….could be better. You were really on the verge of dying, friendo.” Snow floated over, glancing at the two that were quite far away from them.

“What happened to Gabbie? She wasn’t even here when we were attacked?” Dan coughed.

“When she came back, she immediately went to work on you. I thought she had healing powers, not transferring ones. If I would have known that, I wouldn’t have let her go for as long as she did. She used up quite a lot of energy healing you, and life energy at that. It takes a long time for that to fully regenerate. In small batches it can heal very fast, but the amount that she used on you, who knows how long it could be before she wakes up.” Snow shook his ‘head’, and his blue orbs sparkled with regret.

“It’s probably best that you don’t talk to Thalia now.” Molly said before smiling one last time and getting up.

Snow ‘picked him up’ and ‘carried’ him to his tent.

“Thalia!” He called, not caring about Molly’s advice. He felt bad about Gabbie.

Thalia just glared at him, and he felt his insides start to burn. It hurt. A lot.

“Thalia!” Molly scolded, and Thalia scowled and looked away.

“Heed Molly’s warnings next time. She knows what she’s talking about, unfortunately.” Snow said, laying him down and ‘nodding’ at him before leaving.

After that, things were all just a blur. People came in, people came out. Gabbie was layed next to him. He didn’t know when it happened, but at one point, he found himself drifting off into a restless sleep.


	13. Good things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friendship is magic :D XD

“Come on, guys! Get up! It’s time to get a move on!” Gar clapped his hands, rousing all of his fellow travel mates with the loud noise.

“What time is it?” Jp yawned, rubbing his eyes and stretching. 

Pat was already up, preparing the horses and making sure that his armor hadn’t gotten loose during the night. 

Guards always wore their armor, even while they slept.

Gar looked up at the sun, trying to see what position it was in.

“By the looks of it.” Wade piped up, his gaze still cold towards Gar.

“It looks like it’s around seven.”

I’m gonna have to talk to him and apologize, thought Gar as he watched his fellow Heir. Wade seemed to be in a bad mood today.

“Thanks Wade.” Gar nodded towards the tall brunette while smiling softly. Wade just nodded back, he didn’t share the smile that Gar sent.

Gar exhaled and checked his own armor, then he checked his slingshot. His slingshot was his weapon of choice, since he couldn’t wield a blade and he didn’t have the muscles to use a bow.

It was a small weapon, and it went around his waist like a belt. His satchel of lead balls was also at his side, but that were tied to a ring of leather that was on his armor. He had to make more balls, he realized. He only had about a dozen and a half left, and that wouldn’t hold out for long.

But he had also forgotten to bring a large amount of lead. Lead, naturally, was one of the only things that could hurt a demon. That was why most of the Guards swords were enforced with it in the core of the hilt. Some knights had that too, but it was less likely. All the lead had to do was touch the metal of the blade and it would harm the demon.

But, in his rush, he had forgotten to grab a large amount, which meant that he had to use his shots wisely.

“Are you ready, Gar? We are waiting on you.” Pat said from atop of his horse, Epona. His small frame was silhouetted against the morning sky, and Gar realized how small and young his Guard really was. Sixteen at the most, while Gar was twenty. That wasn’t that much of a difference, but it also was at the same time.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Gar replied, getting onto Star. He had received Star from a local farmer that lived in Stardew Valley, and he liked the name Star. She whinnied at Epona, and they began their train.

They travelled for quite a while before stopping at a clearing.

“Ok, let’s take a break. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we need to rest a bit.” Pat said, stopping Epona.

“Definitely.” Wade and Gar said at the same time, and Wade looked at him with the cold eyes.

After Wade was done taking care of Bill, Gar went over.

“Hey, Wade?” He asked, and Wade looked at him. His gaze was still freezing.

“I’m sorry about what I said. I’m just stressed. I don’t mean it. Ashley is a good friend of mine and so are you. I’m sorry.” He apologized, and Wades glare died down a bit. It wasn’t comepletely gone, but it was better.

“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have been so mean. I’m just worried about you. You seem to overwork yourself sometimes and you worry me.” And now the ice was gone and his eyes were a warm brown again.

“Yeah. It’s glowing.” Gar sighed, patting his bag, and Wades eyes widened.

“Shouldn’t you be looking for a wife then? The marriage ceremonies take a long time from what I’ve heard.”

Gar frowned, and he nodded.

“I should be, but I need to find Thalia first. And meet her Guard. I haven’t met her yet, surprisingly.” Gar replied.

“Really? From what I’ve heard from Ashley, Thalia talks grandly about Gabbie when she sends letters.” Wade said, surprised.

“That’s her name? I didn’t even know that.” Gar frowned more.

“Man.” Wade shook his head. 

“I’m happy that Ashley was out more than Thalia was. That would kill me if I didn’t know who was protecting my sister.” Wade shook his head.

“Come on, guys! You’re talking about as much as a few grandmas on Sunday! It’s lunch time!” Pat joked, and the two looked over with smiles.

“Ok! We’re coming!” Wade called back, his smile growing bigger as he saw the jerky, bread and butter.

“God, Wade.” Gar shook his head after Wade got his food.

“What? A hungry man has to have his food!” Wade laughed, and Pat and Jp shared a smile. They were happy that Wade and Gar were on good terms again.

“Yeah. A big man needs a big stomach.” Jp laughed, and Pat clapped and laughed too. Gar made an O with his mouth and giggled uncontrollably, while Wade sat there looking offended.

“I’m surprised that out of all of the insults, you chose that one.” Pat coughed.

“What do you mean, ‘out of all the insults’??? There aren’t that many!” Wade screamed in a falsetto voice.

“You’re right, there’s hairly any.” Jp replied, leading them all into another round of laughter.

“WHAT?!?!” Wade roared, grabbing Jps head and rubbing his knuckles on it.

“Ow! Help! Uncle!” Jp cried through giggles, and Wade stopped to laugh as well.

Unknown to Gar, a stone just went from glowing to a slow flashing.


	14. Peeeooooooppppppllllleeeee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Too much looooooovvvvvvveeeeeeee

Gabbie woke up to lots of noise and a cold presence in wherever she was.

“Wha-“ Somebody cut her off with a loud ‘shhhhhhhhh’.

“Don’t talk. It’ll waste too much of your energy.” Snow. That’s why she felt cold.

She sighed and then opened her eyes.

“Do you know sign language?” He asked, and she searched her head. She had picked up on bits and pieces, but she really didn’t know anything besides the alphabet. Guess she was going to have to do it one letter at a time.

‘What happened?’ She clumsily signed out, and Snow nodded.

“You overextended yourself when you were healing Dan. Thalia has been working for the entire week about you, and this is the only time that you’ve even moved. You really did a lot on yourself.” He answered, and she looked at him in horror.

‘I’ve been asleep for that long? What about Thalia? She was injured and she needs a healer!’ Gabbie rapidly signed, messing up on a few letters and going back to fix them.

“Well, don’t worry about that, because you are definitely not healing anybody for a long while. You’ll be lucky if you even are allowed to sit up.” He shook his head, scowling.

“You gave everybody a real scare.”

She felt bad, she felt that she was overusing her magic. She could feel her life force tearing apart, but that was her major flaw. She would put anybody’s life in front of her own if it meant that she could save them.

‘Is Dan ok?’

Snow looked st her with his ice blue eyes, a small glimmer flashing for a second. A small drop of liquid was present for a quick moment before vanishing.

“You nearly died and yet you still are asking about him. To answer your question, yes. He is stable and improving well.” He faced down and she could see misty hands form and cover his eyes.

“Are you crying?” She croaked out, and he slowly looked up. His plasma was stained with darker grey streaks. That answered her question.

“You can’t just go and do that, Gabbie. Everybody here cares about you and seeing a friend almost die is extremely heartbreaking.”

“You’ve got that right.” Thalia spoke from the opening of the tent, and Gabbie felt her own eyes water.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, her throat hurting immensely.

“Don’t………...you……….dare……….do……..that………..again…..” Thalia said through sobs, kneeling down next to her with tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I won’t, I promise.” Gabbie let a tear slide down, not noticing Snow float out.

___

  
“Hey, uh, guys?” Pat woke everybody up, and Gar groaned before opening up his eyes.

“What’s up, Pat?” He asked as both Wade and Jp woke up.

“I think there’s someone over in those trees.” Pat pointed over to a large cluster of trees where a visible sillouette was visible.

“Well, we have just entered Lascon, so it’s not unexpected.” Wade grumbled, looking over at the still warm fire pit that they had set up.

“But they won’t arrest us, right? Since you’re the Heir?” Jp stammered, nervously tapping his fingers on his leg.

“That’s if they’re loyal to the throne……” Wade responded, and Gar looked over at him with interest.

“Has there been many traitors and rebellions lately?” He asked as he searched for something to eat in their food pack.

Wade sighed.

“Yeah. A lot.”

“How many?”

“Too many.”

Pat frowned, looking back over to the man and then jumping when he saw that he had moved closer.

“Uh, guys?” He repeated, and they looked at him again.

“He’s getting closer. Do you recognize him, Wade?” He asked, and Wades eyes searched the approaching person.

“Can’t say that I can.” Wade shook his head as the observer moved even closer.

And then his eyes opened wide.

“Minx?” He sputtered out, and then the approacher smiled.

It turned out that it was a male, it was a female, and Wade did, in fact, know her. She was the captain of the royal guard and she was doing patrols.

“What are you all doing out here?” She spoke with a slight foreign accent.

“If we tell you, can you keep it a secret?” Pat asked, cautiously eyeing her up.

“Of course!” She replied, and they whispered it to her, just in case any other members of the patrol were around.

“Well,” She said after they told her. “I can’t help you much, but if you come with me, I’m might be able to get you a map and some more provisions.”

And so they followed her, sneaking through the forest.


	15. Bad Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ooooooo, backstory? Torture? Me likey :D

Ashley was gagged and tied up. She could feel somebody’s presence next to her, and she could only assume that it was Day.

“She’s a beauty.” A smooth woman’s voice said in front of her, and she flinched at how close it sounded.

She stayed silent as she remembered the burns that she had received previously from back talking through the piece of cloth in her mouth.

“Can’t you speak, darling? I’d love to hear a pretty voice.” The voice said again, and Ashley bit her tongue as bony fingers pulled out her gag.

“Leave her alone.” Yes, Day was the the one next to her. She must’ve gotten her gag off by herself. Days voice was raspy and sounded strained, and Ashley could feel her pain coming in waves. Then again, she could feel every one of Days emotions all the time because of the blood bond that they shared.

The woman tutted and smacked her with the whip, making her whimper.

“No talking back, missy. Only speak when you are spoken to.”

“Leave her alone.” Ashley whispered, her throat dry and rough.

The air moved in the room as the woman looked at her again.

“Mmmmm, a pretty voice, just as I remembered.” Even though she couldn’t see anything, she could’ve sworn that the lady was smiling.

“How do you know her?” Day spoke up again, and Ashley panicked. Day could probably feel the panic, she realized.

Another whoosh and smack from the lady, and another whimper from Day. Ashley didn’t know how Day wasn’t screaming.

“That’s not important right now. What’s important is that you’re going to help me.” A snicker echoed.

“I’d rather help a fugitive Warlog before I’d help you.” Sh spat, and she felt a bony finger touch her chin.

“Oh, you will help me, or there will be consequences.” A snap was heard before she heard a voice that sounded familiar and the crunching of leaves.

“Where’s my brother? Who’s terrible enough to obey you and bring the Heir to you?” She screamed, yanking at the ropes that bound her hands to the floor.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe a person that he trusts immensely and has someone to get back.” Ashley heard a faint whisper of a woman with an accent before another snap resounded and it was quiet again.

“You’re wrong if you think that Minx will willingly work for you. She is very loyal to the throne.” Ashley shook her head, remembering growing up with the brunette. She had only been promoted to Captain thirteen moon cycles ago.

“And that’s why I’m bribing her. She is aware that I have both of the Heiresses, Heir Barnes’ sweetheart and the Heirs supposed Guard. And, if the prophesies are right, another special person that will play a key role in the future.”

“And if that doesn’t work?” Ashley knew that it was going to work. Minx was loyal to Wade and her father. But, she wanted to know what else was in store and what else Minx was going through.

“If that doesn’t work, then I have someone that she would be very sad to see go.” A click was heard and a screaming that sounded much like Minx’s became audiable.

Ashley’s eyes widened under her blindfold, and and she could feel Day jolt beside her.

“You didn’t.” She whispered in horror.

“Oh, yes I did. I wonder how easily marriage bonds snap.” The woman let out a low, maniacal laugh as the screaming continued.

___

  
There were days where Thalia looked at her life and said, ‘how in the world did I get myself here?’

Today was one of those days.

Gabbie was still in the tent asking if she could do anything to help, in which they all responded no, and Dan was still in his in and out condition. Although Thalia didn’t really mind it.

Sure, Dan was a nice guy, she thought as she picked up the firewood that was right outside the camp. But he had caused Gabbie to harm her life force. And, no matter how much Thalia felt bad for neglecting him and his words, she just kept that one thought in her head.

And the fact that their two best work people were injured was only one of their problems. Another one was that winter was finally starting to take effect. Water was scarce, and food was even scarcer.

The demons didn’t supply them with anything, leaving them to gather their own supplies and provisions. Thalia could see a lot of people dying this winter if the rescue that they hoped for didn’t come soon.

But, no matter how much they all wanted the rescue to come, she knew it wouldn’t.

Because there was no way that Gar could come anywhere close to this camp.

Thalia has found out about it at a young age, and it was by accident. It was before her mother passed away, and both of them had been talking about it when she went to ask if she could have a bedtime story.

“We can’t tell him yet.” Her mother had shook her head, her hands had been folded in her lap.

“But we can’t let him hold a blade, we don’t know what will happen.” Her father had argued back, pacing around the room.

“Well then we will tell him that something bad happens whenever he holds a sword. We already know that he gains power from holding blades, but we don’t know what’s happens to his mind. It’ll be better if we try it at an older age, where he already has control over it. Over _the demon_.”

Thalia shook her head as she snapped herself out of the memory. She just hoped that he wouldn’t come and that somebody else would. She couldn't even imagine what would happen if he entered this area filled with demon magic if he couldn’t even hold a blade.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting on time yesterday, I feel bad but stress is at an all time high lately and I just couldn’t do anything. I hope everybody has a nice day and I hope you liked this chapter :D


	16. Doubts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the short chapter >.<

“We’re almost there.” Minx turned around, looking at us. Gar thought that he could see a flash in her eyes. But then, it was gone.

“Are we There yet?” Jp groaned from behind him, obviously not hearing what Minx had just stated.

Gar groaned and placed his head in his hands, and his horse whinnied at him.

“Not right now, Star.” He whispered to her, and Minx looked at him intently before looking back at Jp and repeating what she had previously said.

“Anyway, let’s go. I’d rather not get caught by anybody.” She told them, and they began to stalk in the grass again.

What seemed to be hours of crawling was only around half an hour, and they were at the fort gates in no time.

“Yo, Minx?” Wade asked behind him.

“Where are we going to put the horses?”

She bit her lip, looking conflicted. She then shook her head before responding.

“We can keep them here. I don’t think anybody will find them.” She replied, and Gar stopped from unmounting.

“Didn’t you just say that we would be found though?” He asked, squinting his dark brown eyes at her.

___

  
Oh crud. Oh crud. Oh crud. They had found her out. Images of Krism flashed in her mind as she stared blankly at them.

“Uhhhhh.” She trailed off, and they all looked at her suspiciously.

“The patrol has gone back by now.” She hurriedly responded, pushing out the gory images of her wife from her mind.

Wade looked at her strangely before unmounting and putting his stuff on the saddle.

“It’s ok, guys. I trust her.” He said, and Minx sighed in relief. She would make sure that Dave would get over here and disable their horses later.

“Ok, come on. We’ll get in through the barracks door.” She told them, smiling as they got off their horses and followed her to the secret door.

“Are you sure this is legal?” Pat asked, and she whipped her head around to see him looking at her suspiciously.

“Of course it is. I’m the captain of the royal guard, I should know.” She said, glaring at him for one second before turning back around.

She would have to step up her game, or they would find her out before she could complete her task for the evil queen. And then she wouldn’t get Krism back.

She took a deep breath and continued on, leading them deeper into what really wasn’t the barracks.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the short chapter guys. You deserve bigger chapters, but I have a crap ton of homework and tests this week and I wasn’t really able to write a long one. I’ll make an extra long one for Monday I hope :/ :)


	17. Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! A long(ish) chapter to make up for Friday’s! Have a nice day!

Pat didn’t trust Minx one bit, but he did trust Wades judgement. But, despite his loyalty to Gar and Wade, he was still cautious towards Minx as she led them farther down the hallway.

Pat, thanks to his heightened senses from when he was with the Trainers, was able to feel the decline in oxygen and the slight slope that they were walking down. He debated whether to tell Gar, but he decided against it for now. He knew something was up, but if he told Gar about his suspicions now and Minx heard him, he would be in trouble.

And so he stayed silent as they went deeper into what he was sure to be a mine or a cave.

The stench was what told him that it was time for him to say what he thought to Gar. He could smell the heavy stench of decay, and it caused him to wrinkle his nose. It smelled worse than the toilets that Nin had made him clean in his first year of training.

He ran up to Gars side, putting his hand on his shoulder.

“What’s up, Patrck? Is something wrong?” Gar cocked his head towards Pat, and Pat was ready to explain his suspicions when Minx stopped them.

“We are here.” She announced, and Gar looked away from Pat to look at the brunette.

“What do you mean?” He asked, and Pat felt a pit drop in his stomach as he saw the bag that Minx pulled out of her satchel.

“Minx?” Wade asked, moving towards her with concern reflecting in his eyes.

“You don’t understand, Wade. I’m sorry.” She shook her head in apology before opening the small leather bag that was in her hands.

“You have horn dust!?” Pat exclaimed, and Minx smiled wickedly.

Gar grabbed Pats arm and forced Pat behind him, against his will. Gar has experienced what this dust could do before. It’s what killed his mother. He didn’t want the same to happen to his good friend.

It all went in slow motion after that. Pat jumped forward, pushing Gar out of the way while Wade was being pushed out of the way by Jp.

“Pat!” Gar yelled as he was shoved to the side, and he lurched forward to grab onto his Guard somehow. He was able to grab the tail of Pats breastplate, and Pat turned around to look at Gar in panic.

“What are you doing?” He shouted, and Gar yanked hard on his armor, causing the Guard to lose his balance and fall, right as a wave of dust was blown into their direction. Right into Gars face.

He was close enough to Minx to block all of it, so it didn’t touch anyone else besides him and Minx.

“Gar!” Pat screamed as he saw both of them disintegrate right in front of his face.

“GAR!” His yells echoed throughout the cavern, while Wade and Jp stood in a shocked silence.

“I SHOULDVE TOLD YOU! GAR!” He cried, falling onto his hands and knees with his head bent towards the floor.

“I will avenge you. I promise.” He wept, and Jp finally shook out of his trance and walked over next to Pat.

“Pat. Please, stop crying.” He hugged the smaller male, causing him to cry even more.

“It’s no use, Jp.” Wade shook his head.

“Gars gone. Let Pat mourn. We should probably stay here for a bit before we head back anyway. We don’t know who’s out there anymore or if they are the same as I remember them to be. I may have only been gone a week, but things have changed.” Wade solemnly said, walking over to comfort their friend.

Pat was now shaking with sobs. He had failed. He had lost his first person not even a month into it. He had wanted so bad to be bound to Gar, he wanted to feel like he was a part of something.

And now Gar was gone.

Pat would never be able to see his silly smile anymore, never be able to advise him in decisions. He would never be able to help him find a queen or aid him with a new Heir.

All because of his stupidity. He knew that it was a trap, he could feel it on their way down. He could feel it even before they entered the opening in the fort wall, but he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to be wrong.

“I knew it was a trap. I knew. YET I DIDNT TELL HIM!” Pat yelled, his throat thick with remorse.

“I was scared that I would be wrong. What a Guard I am.” He whispered, wanting to cry more but not having any more tears to do so.

“It doesn’t matter if you might be wrong, Pat.” Wade comforted him.

“On the battlefield I once didn’t trust our general. He was giving us rediculous directions and I thought something was up. I was scared that I would be wrong, too. But I still told my father after training. It turned out that I was right, because he had been working with the demons. Even if you doubt yourself, still tell somebody. I think that’s the lesson that we have learned here today.” Wade bowed him head and backed up as Pat wiped away his tears and stood up.

“You’re right. Thank you Wade. And you too, Jp. Now, I must go and avenge my fallen prince.” Pat wiped his face one more time before tightening his armor and beginning to walk out.

When he took his first step he felt something rub against his thigh. He looked down to see a torn piece of blue cloth with a full blue moon emblem on it.

“I will avenge you, Gar. I swear to it, even if it’s the last thing I do.” He whispered under his breath, picking off the cloth and holding it in his hand as he walked out of the cavern. The emblem on the cloth matched the emblem on Pats armor, the emblem that symbolized that he really was part of something.

And even if the wearer of the first emblem was gone, if Pat held the cloth close enough, he could still feel a small hint of Gars life force radiating off of it.

And he could still smell the scent of Gars room and the castle, which was important, because it helped him remember the home that he didn’t plan on seeing for a long, long time.

 


	18. Retreating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for not posting this on a Friday guys. I hope you enjoy this little flashback story though :)

Entoan and Dlive had been out in the forest the past few nights after they had been brought into the demon camp. They had retreated out there after the demon, who Dan had referred to as Nin, attacked their camp. They had only just been brought into the camp when that happened.

___

“I hope you enjoy your residence here, you nasty scavengers. This is what you get for scurrying around near our border.” A demon sneered, pushing them into a camp where a blonde man, a blonde lady, and four other girls were sitting. The blonde lady looked up at them as they stumbled.

“Oh, this is grand.” She sighed, standing up to help them.

“More people already?” A brunette girl groaned, but another brown haired girl next to her shushed her.

“Wait, aren’t you two the most wanted scavengers in Lukerik?” The man with the blonde hair asked, his eyes widening.

Entoan gulped, smiling uneasily.

“It doesn’t matter what their past lives were, Dan. That’s exactly what you told Thalia when we came here, and I assume that it stands for everybody.” The one who was shushing told the blonde man, whose name was apparently Dan.

“Yes, but they’re bandits! And you’re royalty! Atleast, Thalia is.” Dan argued, and Dlives eyes widened at the mention of ‘Thalia’ and ‘Royalty’.

“Wait, so the princess is here?” Dlive asked, and the girl with the attitude looked up.

“Yes. I am Thalia, princess of Dauntaff. Heiress Ashley is also here.” The girl, Thalia, spoke.

“But ranks don’t matter here.” The blonde girl quickly stated, guiding them over to the fire that Dan had just finished making.

“I’m Thalia’s Guard, Gabbie.” The girl who stood up for them said, and another blonde girl next to her stated that her name was Dayna, but they could call her Day.

“What’s your name?” Entoan asked the woman that helped them.

“I’m Molly.” She smiled, and both of their mouths gaped open.

“You mean, Molly Marg? Like, the-“

“Yes.” She cut them off, ending whatever they were going to say.

Dan looked at them, and they realized that they hadn’t said their names yet.

“I’m Entoan, and this is Dlive. We are, uh….” Entoan trailed off, looking at Dan, who had a contempt look on his face.

“You are the most wanted thieves in Lukerik. Trust me, I know. I used to live there.” He smiled winningly, and they blushed in shame.

“It’s ok, though. It would be hypocritical of me to judge you on what you did, since I did pretty bad stuff as well.” He laughed, and they all looked questioningly at him.

Gabbie stood up and walked over to a tree stump, and Entoan only looked for a second. Then he looked back over at Dan.

He began to share what he was, but then a loud roar echoed throughout their camp, followed by loud footsteps.

Before they knew it, a large demon rampaged in, their blood-red eyes shining in the dusk darkness.

“Nin?” Dans jaw dropped, walking forwards slightly.

“Dan, what are you doing?” Molly yelled over the loud noise, running in front of him. Before he had time to react, Molly was pushed out of the way (more like thrown) and hit a tent with a loud thud before falling to the ground.

“Nin…..” he trailed off, and he stopped walking. They swung, clawing him up, and he went flying through the air and landed into the fire. Thalia sprung up and rolled him out, but he was already burned severely.

“You monster!” Thalia screamed, grabbing a sharp stick from next to her and running towards the demon.

The demon sniffed, and then growled.

“You will never be enough for them. It’s a good thing that he will be here soon.” They growled, picking up Thalia with claw like hands and throwing her into the ground. Where was Gabbie?

“Gabbie!” Thalia screamed, but then claws punctured Thalia’s skin, causing her to bleed and black out. Ashley and Dayna were already up, Day armed with her sword from her scabbard. The demon picked them up, squeezing them harshly and carrying them away as they passed out from lack of air.

Dlive and Entoan looked at the gore fest and then bolted to the forest. Sure, they probably should’ve been trying to help everybody heal, but their instincts told them to run. It was a force of habit.

___

 

Now, a few days after the attack, Entoan deemed it safe to head back to the camp. Him and Dlive crept through the underbrush and trees, which were now covered with cold water from the rain last night, looking around wearily, just in case the demon had come back.

They made it to the camp, seeing Thalia sitting at a campfire with a shade and Molly.

The shade noticed them first, and he narrowed his eyes at them.

“Where have you two been?” He asked, and Thalia turned around to look at them.

“We’re sorry.” Dlive apologized, and Thalia’s face turned red.

“You’re sorry?” She whispered angrily, moving to get up. Molly stopped her, and Thalia then just glared at them.

“You didn’t help anyone, you just left us all to die!” She whisper-yelled, and Entoan bowed his head in shame.

“We’re sorry.” Entoan repeated, and the shade nodded his head.

“You are not forgiven yet, but we thank you for coming back.” Molly said, and Thalia turned around, not even bothering to look at them again.


	19. Back

Thalia woke up to a dull thud outside of their tent. She visually jumped, grabbing a stick that was laying next to her makeshift bed. I swear, if that’s Gabbie, I am going to murder her, she thought as she quietly looked out the flap.

On the ground was a bloody body that looked male. His cuts didn’t look too major, and she carefully crept forward to turn him over and look at him. 

“Gar?” She whispered in horror, turning him over to see his weary features twisted in pain. He wasn’t awake, and she softly turned him back over. She was going to have to start the fire so that she could take care of him.

“Thalia?” Molly yawned behind her, and Thalia whipped around in surprise.

“Oh, hey Molly.” She sighed, rubbing her eyes before turning back round.

“Who’s that?” Molly asked, limping over to the fire that Thalia was trying to start.

“It’s my brother. I think he fell from somewhere.” Thalia frowned, looking over at the unconscious man.

“How could he have fell? There’s no way that he could’ve gotten into the camp.” Molly shook her head, sitting down next to him.

“I have no idea.” The fire was slow going, and it took quite a while to even build up a small flame. Earlier that day it had rained, making it hard to find firewood and anything else.

“Should we wake up Gabbie and Dan?”

Thalia pondered the question, thinking of how weak both of them were.

“Is Snow still here?” She asked, and Molly shrugged.

“I don’t know, I can barely see now, I don’t think I’ll be able to see a shade.”

“I’m here.” A breathily voice said behind them, scaring the wits out of them.

“Sorry for scaring you. Anyway, I don’t think we should wake them up. Maybe we can wake up Dan, but Gabbie is still very weak and needs all the sleep that she can get.” He floated to the other side of the fire, making them create a circle around it.

“I think they can wait, Gars not even up yet. There’s no use waking them up right now.” Thalia finally decided, putting the conversation at rest.

They sat there in silence as Snow went to somehow get water for them so they could clean up Gars cuts.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Thalia said as they began to take off his shirt to clean up his cuts on his chest. She accidently knocked into something in his pants pockets, and she pulled it out a small flashing stone.

“What’s that?” Molly asked her right when Snow got back.

“Don’t touch that!” He demanded, and Thalia immediately dropped it into his pocket again.

“What is it?” She asked as they cleaned up his wounds.

“It his birthstone, it’s made after he’s born. He got it when he was sixteen, I think. Well, really, his eighth birthday, but it doesn’t really do anything till you’re sixteen. When it starts to flash, that means that he needs to find a wife soon. And it’s flashing very fast, so he doesn’t have much time.” Snow somehow shook his head.

“How is he going to find a wife here? We are in a demon camp!” Thalia exclaimed, looking at her injured brother.

“We are just going to have to get him out of here fast. That’s all we can do.” Snow sighed, frowning as he wiped again.

___

 

Should we put him in the same tent as Gabbie and Dan?” Thalia asked Snow after they finished wiping away all the blood.

“I think that should be fine. Besides, I think that the radiation from Gabbie will help him.” Snow replied, puzzling Thalia.

“What do you mean ‘radiation’?” She asked.

“When Gabbie overextended herself, her magic kinda seeped out, giving her an aura. It’ll only be there for a few days, since it’s supposed to help heal her. I guess her magic does that. Anyway, it radiates from her, so people near her can also heal faster. That’s why Dan has been getting better so fast. And, since the tents are Tripe Tents, they will keep her magic in there.” He explained. She nodded, but she didn’t really understand.

They then (carefully) picked up Gar and carried him to the tent where Gabbie and Dan were sleeping. They layed him down on Gabbie’s left, since Dan was on her right. They all suddenly felt what Snow was explaining. The air was heavier, and they all felt a boost in euphoria and strength.

“Good night, Gar.” Thalia whispered before her and the others crawled out of the tent and let the feeling leave them.

After they left the tent, they sat around the fire and thought about what they would do. How were they going to take care of all these injured people?

Then, as Thalia was going to propose an idea, Snow glared at something behind them.

___

 

Gar knew that he was dead. Or, at least, he was pretty sure that he was. He remembered being transported by the horn dust and then falling through the treetops, unaware of where Minx was, and then………

He couldn’t remember anything else.

So, he just assumed that he was dead. 

Until he felt a warm presence overcome him.

It was soft and warm, reminding him of the times before his mom left where she would cuddle him in a blanket and put him in his crib. It reminded him of when he used to eat the royal chefs best soup and then go to bed when he was sick.

And then it began to burn. It wasn’t really bad, but it was very uncomfortable. It didn’t feel like actual burning. It felt more like when you rub up against a piece of leather, or when you get whipped. He could feel cuts that’s he didn’t know he had begin to close.

And then it went back to the warm feeling. It kept alternating, pain, and then comfort. Every time that he got pain, he could feel himself healing, and then the warm comfort would relax him new skin.

Warm, pain, warm, pain, warm, pain. It was a never ending cycle. And then it stopped. The ceasing surprised him, and he opened his eyes. Above him, he could see the cloth of a tent, a crack showing the first light of dawn seep into the cold area.

He so desperately wanted the warmth that he had earlier now, because now his new skin was stiff and the tent was very, very cold. He ran his hands along his arms, rubbing fast to warm then up. As he did so, he could feel the new skin rise like a brand new scar, although he was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to scar from whatever injuries he had.

As he rubbed his arms, he accidently bumped into a body laying next to him, startling them awake.

“Oh, hello.” He felt bad for waking them up, but they sounded cheery enough.

“I’m sorry for waking you up, it’s really cold in here.” He apologized, looking over at them.

He noticed that they were a girl, and he immediately covered up his bare chest, causing her to laugh.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about not having a shirt on either, since Dan here always has his off. He has respiratory problems though, so it’s understandable.” She gestured to the man to her right who, indeed, did have his shirt off.

“Where are we?” He asked, still a little self-conscious. Since he was a Prince, he was never permitted to have any piece of clothing off in front of anybody besides his maids.

“Well, we’re in a healing tent that’s located inside of a wonderful Demon Camp.” She scowled, and Gar felt his face pale.

“Wait, a Demon Camp? So, does that mean-“

“Yes, Thalia is here, Gar. And she’s safe. I made sure of that.” She interrupted him.

“How did you know who I was asking for and who I am?” He asked suspiciously.

“Because I’m her Guard, Gabbie.”


	20. Planning

“Go away!” Patrick yelled, the wind whipping it back to Wade and Jp, who were behind him.

“Let us help you, Pat. Please! Gar was close to us too!” Jp shouted back, and he could hear Pickle getting closer to he and Epona.

“You don’t understand!” He argued back, his response almost getting carried away by the gushes of air hitting his face.

“Stop!” Wade sprinted on Bill, turning right in front of Pat and stopping, causing Epona to stumble and skid to a halt.

“You don’t understand.” He repeated, his voice hard.

“Maybe we don’t, but we still want to help you. Gar was our friend.” Wade comforted, getting closer to Pat and resting his arm on his shoulder.

“Yes, but, technically, you shouldn’t come with me because we were on a diplomatic mission.” Pat sighed, trying one last time.

“If you want to talk about it diplomatically, then we should still come with you, because we haven’t found Ashley yet.” Jp pointed out, and Pat groaned in defeat.

Pat didn’t like doing adventures with others. When he was still with the Trainers, and they would send him on missions, he always went alone. He was only ok with going on this mission with others because Gar was here, but now that Gar was………...gone, there would be no point in continuing with the others.

And then Jp brought up that fact.

“Fine.” Pat leaned on Eponas back and pressed his hands to his face.

He could hear Jp do a little silent cheer, and he could feel Wade smile. He had to stop himself before he shocked anybody.

“So, where are we going?” Wade asked after they finished celebrating.

“Well, I was planning on going to find the demon camp to let Ashley and the others out. Then I realized how unthought out that was.”

Wade nodded, his eyes looking troubled. Jp just stood there in curiosity.

“You were planning on going to the demon camp by yourself? Man, I’m glad we caught up with you then. It would be even more dangerous if we weren’t here!” He exclaimed, and Pat allowed a small smile to come across his face. Jp was around his age, but they both had much different maturity levels as well. Patrick had learned to grow up at a young age, and Jp was still childlike.

“Yes, I guess it would be. I don’t really think out my plans too much, though.” He shrugged, and Jp agreed.

“Well,” Wade said, trying to change the subject.

“I think we can narrow down a large amount of land where the camp couldn’t be.” He pulled out his map and laid it on the ground.

“Since Lascon and Dauntaff are considerably close to each other, I have a feeling that it would be close to them, because nobody spotted them being captured.”

“Except they were both taken at night, so it doesn’t matter if people could see them or not. Believe it or not, demons are very hard to see in the dark.” Pat pointed out, and Wade bit his tongue before thinking.

“Could it be near Lukerik, then? It’s definitely farther away, and no offense to Sean, but his parents don’t tend to have a lot of guards. That would make it easier for them to get past it.” Wade tried again, and this time Jp answered.

“Yeah, but that wouldn’t work because from Lascon to Lukerik is atleast a two day journey on horse, and I highly doubt that they would have horses. There’s also the fact that it would have to be daytime at some point in time, and then they would be seen.” Jp contradicted, but Pat jumped in before Wade could think about it again.

“Yes, but maybe Wade is on to something. Besides, they’re demons, and they don’t travel slow. They would keep pushing them to run or atleast fast walk until they get to the camp. And,” Pat continued, getting excited.

“There’s a big stretch of woods connecting Taura and Lukerik and I think a bit of Lascon, so if it was day and they didn’t want to be seen, they could just use that to travel.” 

“But I don’t think Lord and Lady Fischbach would let us through into their land. They have very high security rules, and they don’t like travelers that much.” Wade sighed.

“I guess it’s time to go back to block one, but I think that we were onto something.” Pat nodded, putting his finger back on the little markers that stood for Lascon and Dauntaff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for missing two updates on Friday and Monday guys. I’ve been trying to keep up with it, but I am just lagging behind a bit. The updates will continue hopefully as planned!


	21. Schedule Update Change

Hey guys, I’m sorry that this isn’t a normal chapter, but im posting this to let you know that instead of Monday’s and Fridays, I am going to be posting on Wensdays, which means that there will be no update today, unfortunately. I’m sorry that it has come to this, but school is being very needy right now and I only have a little bit of time between when I get home and when I got to do other things. Thank you for understanding, friendos! Also, as a little silly thing, tell me who your favorite character so far is :D


	22. I’m sorryyyyyyyyy

I’m sorry, I know I’m an asshole for telling you that I’m going to post but then I don’t and I’m really sorry. I’m working on a chapter, I promise, but right now it’s not done. As soon as it’s done I will post it though. Thank you for understanding!


	23. Nightmares (both real and not)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jp remembers some not so good things, and Pat has a breakdown. Wade is legit a bear.

Patrick had a nightmare that night, Jp could hear it next to him. It wasn’t just Pats thrashing that was keeping him up, though. It was the weight of despair that was dragging down his shoulders. Wades stone has started flashing just after they had reached Pat, and Wade hadn’t stopped mumbling to himself since them.

Jp wished that he could do something. Something, anything to help Wade. Wade was like an older brother to Jp, since Jps parents had died in a fire that had ravaged Lascon all those years ago. He also worried for Gar. He knew that Gar wasn’t dead.

He knew that Gar was still alive, somewhere out there. He didn’t have any reasoning whatsoever other than the fact that Gar wouldn’t give up that easily, that he wouldn’t die to a dust. He would somehow find out how to escape, and that was reassuring to him.

But that reassurance wasn’t strong enough to break Jps foul mood. 

He rolled over, facing a rock that had many marks and cuts along its rough surface. It reminded him of his door to his room, all the scratches triggering the memory of his father, clawing at the wood while the fire burned through the living room walls. He could still smell the distinct scent of smoke as he layed here, shivering as he searched through his memories.

Jp didn’t allow himself to go deep into his mind often, worrying that it would distract him. He remembered a girl, in the stables where he worked, who would relieve him of some of the stress that the memories caused. She would settle her calming magic on him, taking the memories slowly out of his head. Her name was Bryclyn.

That’s what allowed him to be so happy and carefree all the time, she would take away the memories; except, now that he thought about it, he realized that it probably wasn’t the best decision. Those memories were the only things that linked him to his parents, that told him what they looked like, what they sounded like, what they acted like before the fire.

Now that was all gone.

He didn’t realize that he was crying until the first tear slid down his pale cheek. He wiped it off, probably smearing dirt on his face. The ground wasn’t the cleanest of places.

He could still hear Pat thrashing around, and he heard Wade sigh in discomfort. Apparently he had never fallen asleep. Did he know that Jp was still awake? Did he see that Jp was crying? Probably not, since he was facing a rock. That thought comforted him. He didn’t want Wade to think he was weak.

“What should we do?” Wade spoke out, and Jp knew it was directed to him.

“I don’t know.” He murmured, making sure that he didn’t wake Pat. Then again, maybe waking him up was better than letting him sleep through his nightmare.

“I need to find someone to preform the ceremonies with before my stone stops flashing, but who am I going to find out here?” Wade whispered, and Jp frowned. Wade was right, even though he didn’t want to admit it.

“Maybe-“

“GAR!” Pat screamed, jolting up, his thin travel blanket hugging his shoulders. At the same time as he jumped up, so did Jp and Wade.

“Are you alright?” They both said simotaniously, and then they looked at each other in slight amusement, even though their situation was serious.

“I had a nightmare.” Pat covered his face with his hands, leaning into his arched legs.

“Yeah, no duh.” Jp said insensitivity, and then he immediately regretted it. He was acting like a child.

“What happened in it?” Wade asked, chastisingly glaring at Jp before crouching next to Pat and laying his hand on the smaller shoulder. That was obviously a mistake, because Pat jerked wildly, grabbing Wades hand and flinging his entire body to the side. Wade soared for a couple of moments, and then he landed in the grass a foot away, his arm hairs standing up. He looked like he was electrified.

“I’m sorry.” Pat looked up, tears staining his small, thin face. Jp didn’t dare touch him after he saw what happened to Wade, so, instead, he took out a small pin in the shape of a cat. 

Immediately, his magic began assessing it, showing him its magical properties, even though he already knew each enchantment by heart. He had helped to create it, even though none of his magic was put into it. He had told the creator, a woman named Amy, to put all the calming spells she could think of on it.

He looked at the tabby’s face one last time before he grabbed one of Pats hands and forcefully pressing it into his palm. As soon as he touched the small hand, electricity zapped him, causing him to immediately pull his hand back. Although it was at the expense of his pain, Jp could notice a slight difference in Pats aura. It was lighter, warmer. It still surprised him how little he had to try to reach into the magic to feel people’s aura.

“Are you…….alright?” He asked in a guarded voice, careful not to touch Pat at all.

“Yeah, I am. I actually feel a lot better than alright.” Pat breathed, looking at Jp with a big grin. His eyes were still troubled, but he definitely seemed better. Jp frowned for a second, forgetting the side effects of the person who used the pin. Oh well, the silliness should wear off in about two hours.

“I’m alive, if that counts for anything.” Wade raised his hand from his lying position, and Jp couldn’t help but giggle along with Pat as Wade stood up, his hair fluffing out like a bears.

“You’re lucky you’re from a different division,” Wade teased.

“Or I would file you with assault against the heir.” They all laughed a little bit more, but Jp could still see that all the worry still didn’t come out of Pats eyes. That would take a long time to go still.


	24. Chapter 24

It had been about a month since the Kings son had left the castle, even though he was told directly not to. In that month, the Kings condition had been getting worse and worse. He had figured that Gar would had been able to find a spouse around this time, but then he left.

The King was laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling as coughs racked his body. The lord of Lascon has left three days after the cleaning women had found Gars room empty, his stone dog collection slightly askew. 

He knew that Gar would start to see his stone flashing, although he didn’t want to admit he was dying. He just hoped that Gar would be able to find a spouse before he died, because if he didn’t, then he would have to resort to arranged marriage, and the King knew that his son would never want to do that.

“Your majesty.” A servant knocked on the Kings chamber doors, and he allowed him to enter.

“Yes, Mr. Muyskens. What would you like?” He asked wearily, his voice hoarse from all the coughing.

“Sir Ohm said that he saw Prince Bluemoons new Guard, the stable boy from Lascon, and Heir Barnes crossing out of Lascon late last night. Lord Cry instructed him to do a late patrol, and he came across them. He did not confront, he just watched them. He seemed quite surprised that they were runaways when I told him, because he said that they looked like they were set for a mission.”

“What about Gar?” A pit dropped in the Kings stomach when he did not hear his sons name mentioned in the sighted group.

“Prince Bluemoon was not with them, according to Ohm. It was just those three.” The servant bowed, apologetically smiling before leaving the quarters and the king.

After the servant left, the King was left alone to the silence of his thoughts. If Gar was dead, who was to be the king after him?

 

___

 

“Gabriella Sorient! What did you do?” Thalia yelled as Gabbie told a joke to Gar, who was intently listening. In panic, she quickly swiped her hand up and pressed hard into the pressure point in Gars neck, causing him to pass out temporarily. She was lucky she learned where that was in training.

“Nothing, Thalia. What do you think I did?” She asked nonchalantly, and Thalia flared up.

“I heard voices in here.” She said, looking at the two males at Gabbie’s side. Both of them appeared to be out, even though she definitely heard more than one voice coming from the tent.

“I was talking to Dan. He woke up a short while ago, but he just recently went back to sleep. I’m surprised you didn’t wake him up with your yelling.” Gabbie said, looking at Thalia with a reasoning light in her eyes. She hoped that her Princess believed the lie.

Thalia looked like she didn’t believe her, and Gabbie held her breath. She wasn’t used to lying to Thalia, since they never kept anything from each other. Then again, Gabbie wasn’t really used to lying to anybody.

But, instead of Thalia incinerating her, she just slowly nodded, bit her lip, and went back out.

Gabbie breathed a sigh of relief, but that was when Snow floated in.

“You know,” he said, glancing at the passed out Prince.

“You’re a really bad lier. Like, I could lie better than you.”

“Yeah, well, you can lie better than everybody.” Gabbie allowed herself a small smile.

Snow cursed, shaking his head with a small smile.

“You know me too well.”

“Do you think I should wake him back up?” She asked, looking at the tanned royalty.

“Well, you don’t normally do what I think anyway, so.”

She chuckled, realizing what he said was true. Gabbie almost never did what other people told her to do.

“Don’t laugh at me, I’m just stating the facts. You know, I feel offended by you sometimes.” He laughed as well, and it was a high laugh, not the kind of laugh you would expect from a man. Then again, his voice was also higher than the average mans.

“I think you and Gar would be great friends.” She smiled, and he made a fake sour face before laughing again.

“Royal people suck.” Gabbie stopped laughing for a second, looking at Snow with wide eyes before laughing even harder.

“Wow, and you say that I offend you.” She giggled, and and he broadly smiled.

“I mean, come on though. They’re raised to be stiff. Why do you think villagers who don’t like their royalty call them ‘Stiffs’?” He laughed, and she was about to argue back before Gar woke up and looked wearily at Snow.

“Who-“

“He’s a Stiff, don’t mind him.” Gabbie elbowed Gar jokingly, and Gar cracked a small grin. He had heard that term a lot, although he didn’t know why she was applying it to him.

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t I lose that term since I’m a demon though?” Snow asked, and she laughed even more. But Gar, who didn’t know Snow at all, widened his eyes in fright. Snow saw this and explained to the Prince what everyone else knew. Or, atleast what Gabbie knew. Nobody else knew that he was a previous lord turned demon. Only Gabbie knew his previous name though, he didn’t tell Gar that.

“No, you’re still a Stiff.” Gabbie said after the explanation was done, and Gar giggled. He straight out giggled.

“How can I be stiff if my form is ever-changing?” Snow asked with a hint of mischievous light in his eyes.

“Sti-iff-“ Gabbie teased again, and by then Gar was clutching his abdomen. 

“Fine, then we are all Stiff buddies.” Gar managed to get out through his laughter, and Gabbie shook her head before covering her mouth.

“Nope, just you two. I don’t count as royalty.” She said through her hand.

“You’re a Stiff now.” Gar poked her, and she shook with giggles as well.

“I’m surprised Thalia hasn’t heard us yet.” Snow shook his head in amusement.

“Me too.” Gar said, wondering about his sister. Was she alright? Why did Gabbie knock him out when she came in?

“It’s because she’s Stiff.” Gabbie said after they all calmed down, and they started again in their rounds of laughter.

A little while afterwards Snow left and Gar fell back into a fitful sleep. He awoke in the same dream landscape that he had been in before he left the castle, yet this time it was different. This time there was somebody else in the cave.

And he was pretty sure that he wasn’t himself again.

 

___

 

“Hey, Shawn? Are you alright?” A familiar looking girl crawled over, pressing her palm to his forehead.

“I don’t know……..” he trailed off, and Gar could feel that his body wasn’t fully there. It seemed almost…….misty.

“Listen to me. Shawn? Shawn!” She removed her hand from his head and instead placed both of them on his shoulders, shaking.

“Monica? Monica, you need to go. You need to leave.” He looked at her with wide eyes, feeling more of himself leaving.

“No. I did this to you.” Gar could see a tear sparkle as it fell down her face.

“I’m not leaving you, especially since I caused this.”

Gar could feel a convulsion shake his body, purple liquid trickling out of his lips. Why was he remembering this? It had nothing to do with him!

“No! Shawn!” Gar could feel her hands faze through his shoulders, and more tears flowed down her cheeks.

“Hey, listen. I need you to take care of Stacia, ok? Make sure she doesn’t leave for Dauntaff. Lukerik needs her.” He coughed out, more purple substance flicking his lips.

She hesitated, looking back at him after she stood up.

“Go!” He yelled, and she wiped away her tears before racing out of the cave.

Gar could feel so much pain in his body as it turned to air. Or mist. He didn’t know what substance it was, he just knew it wasn’t fully solid.

“Monica!” He yelled, his voice hoarse.

“Monica!” Pain spread throughout his body, and Gar, the real Gar, not this Shawn guy, remembered the pain and warmth that he once felt when he was being healed. Why couldn’t he feel that warmth again now?

“Monica!”

 

___

 

“Monica!” Gar gasped, jolting up in his sleeping roll. He was sweating fiercely, and he was staring at the cloth of the tent.

He didn’t notice, but Gabbie opened her eyes wide next to him, about to respond out of a habit that hadn’t left her after a thousand years. But, she stopped herself before he realized she was awake and quickly closed her eyes again.


	25. Weird Rando Thing

Ok, this isn’t a chapter, but I’m just gonna scream about something:

 

 

 

GAR, PAT, WADE AND JP ARE TOGETHER AGAIN!!!!

 

 

 

Gar, Jp, Pat and Mk flew to Ohio to stay with Molly and Wade for A WEEK!

 

 

 

I am probably way to excited, but I am because I’m so proud of them. Like, I’m so proud of Gar, Pat and Jp are even playing with Mark once or playing with Tyler regularly, and seeing them taking it into their own hands to meet up again for only the second time since they met each other is just amazing! I am so proud of my boys (and girls) D’X.

 

They are also only a state away from me, so X’(


	26. Chapter 26

It was actually kinda scary to Wade, how much Pat had changed. Considering how morbid their journey was, that is. He normally would’ve loved to see the normal Pat, who he had hardly ever seen. But, the fact that Pat was happy to the point of laughing on a trip to go and save his probably dead Prince? It didn’t really seem to be time for that kind of thing.

“What does that charm exactly do?” Wade asked Jp as they got off of their horses. They had travelled the entire day again, taking the map out. They had gotten it from the castle before they charged after Pat, along with the provisions that Minx should’ve given them.

“It’s meant to calm someone down, Amy told me that it was very calming and soothing. I don’t know why it’s effecting Pat this way. I normally used to hold onto it after……” Jp stopped, and Wade remembered what happened to the poor stablegirl. 

She used to help Jp clean out the stables, and she used to help him with the little schoolwork he got. He looked up to her, and many times, Wade was convinced that Jp had feelings for her. They used to talk all the time, and when Wade would invite Jp into the fort for a royal dinner with him and his family, Jp usually brought her along. Her name was Bryclyn.

She also used to help Jp with coping with his bad memories, if Wade could remember correctly. She was like a therapist for him, in a sense. Wade always felt bad for not being able to help him with this, since it was his responsibility. Wade had become a legal brother of sorts to Jp, for his father had adopted him after his family died in a horrid fire that had happened many years before.

And then she was kidnapped.

They didn’t know where she went, they just assumed that a thief had taken advantage of her sweetness and brought her with him. But, with all this demon activity, Wade wouldn’t have been surprised that she was taken by them.

Maybe it was a few years ago, but demons didn’t stop, from what he recollected.

“It’s ok, Jp.” Wade comforted him, giving him a brotherly hug.

“No it’s not, dont lie to me.” Jp sighed, hugging Wade back.

“She might be there, though. We just gotta keep going. We all have someone to find, and that will have to push us forward. I need to find Ashley,” an image of his sister flashed in his mind, and it felt like someone stabbed him in the heart.

“You have to find Bryclyn, Pat has to find Gar, and Gar had to find Thalia. We have to keep going so that we find them.” Wade said soothingly, and Jp nodded, wiping his face. Wade didn’t notice that the both of them were crying.

“So are you really going to have to marry Thalia if we find her?” Jp asked out of the blue, and Wade bit his lip in though after they both pulled away from the hug.

“I mean, it depends if she isn’t already arranged to marry someone else.” He replied, although a pit dropped in his stomach. He didn’t want to marry Thalia. He had another girl in mind, although she probably wasnt going to be there if those nasty creatures found out her magic.

“If we find Gar and Ashley, are they going to have to get married then? He said he wasn’t arranged to marry anyone, although I think Ashley was interested in one of the Knights.” Jp asked again, and Wade halted his walk to the fire.

He forgot that Gars stone was flashing. How fast would it be going now? How long did Gar have to start preforming the ceremonies? It said that you atleast had to start the ceremonies before you can share the magic in the book Wade read when he had to study the protection spells.

Another pit dropped in his stomach. It didn’t matter, the Heir to the throne was most likely dead.

“I’m not sure, Jp.” Wade responded, frowning to himself as he got his sleeping pad and unrolled it.

“I mean, isn’t it the only logical option though? They could start the ceremonies in the camp if they are both there-“ 

“What do you mean ‘in the camp’?” Wade stopped him, and Jp blushed.

“I don’t think Gar is dead. I think he might have just been transported. I think it’s the same for Minx, to be honest.” Jp explained, and Wade felt all the blood rush to his head.

“And you only told us this NOW? When Pat has been worrying about how he failed Gar and killed him?” Wade blew up, and Jp flinched. Pat looked over from where he was setting up his stuff, a confused grin on his face.

“I’m sorry Wade, I don’t even know for sure-“

“You couldve told us sooner though.” Wade looked at Jp with a pained expression. Jp felt bad, and he blinked away tears. Wade realized this and frowned.

“I’m sorry Jp-“ 

“You’re telling me.” Pat butt in, walking over with a hard look in his eye. The charm must’ve not been able to hold back his anger.

“You’re telling me,” he repeated, his voice cracking with anger and sadness, reminding them that he was still quite young compared to them.

“That Gar is alive? And I’m only hearing this now?” He cried, glaring at Jp with fire in his eyes.

“I dont know if he is actually alive! I just thought he was! And if he isn’t, I didn’t want to get your hopes up!” Jp rebutted, tears falling down his own face.

“I thought I could trust you to talk to me, Jp! I thought I could! Why didn’t you tell me!” Pat yelled, startling the birds around them.

“I didn’t want to hurt you!” Jp screamed, his voice thick with mucus.

“I already am hurt. I can’t be hurt anymore.” Pat whispered, his firm mouth shaking as tears flooded his eyes.

“Pat-“ Wade moved towards the small man, reaching out.

“No,” Pat wiped away his tears, taking out the pin that Jp had given him and throwing it.

“All I wanted was to be happy, maybe that’s why that pin effected me the way it did. But I don’t want to be happy around a bunch of liers.” Pat stalked off to his mat, not even casting another glance at the two guilty boys as he sat down and placed his head in his knees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not gonna be active for most of this week because of easter guys. I’m sorry :/


	27. Chapter 27

Marissa was alone in a dark room after a torture session with the Heiress of Lascon and her Guard. My, the Heiress was beautiful. It was such a shame that she had to be hurt. But, nonetheless, they needed information, and she was the only one that knew enough to tell them. She could question Gars sister if it was needed, she guessed.

“My queen, I have some information for you.” Marissa sighed, breaking away from her thoughts as she looked over at a shade that had entered the room.

“Don’t you ever warn me before you come in? I could’ve been naked for all you know.” She joked, a small and tired smile finding it’s way onto her face.

“I can sense you.” Was all he said, shrugging.

“What do you need to tell me, Snow?” She asked, turning her body to face him.

“Gars here, in the camp. Minx transported him here, I can only guess that she died from either the powder or the fall. I’m surprised he isn’t dead.” Marissas eyes widened at the mention of Gars name.

“Gar? He’s here?” She asked, a pained look flashing for a second before being replaced by one of pure evil.

“Yes, my queen. But we must be careful-“

“I can face him, Snow. I’m not that weak.” She frowned, standing up and walking over to him.

“But there’s a healer-“ he tried again, but he got cut off for a second time as she stood up.

“Nobody is going to be able to keep me from bringing my son to our side.”

___

Gar woke up with a horrible headache, the lack of sleep really taking its toll on him. After his dream Gabbie had woken up and put her hand on his arm sleepily, putting him to sleep before she went back to sleep herself.

And now he woke up again, unaware of what time it was, with his head banging so loud he was sure Gabbie and Dan could hear it next to him.

“You couldn’t sleep again?” He heard an unknown voice ask, and his head snapped over to see Dan with barely opened eyes.

“How are you awake and talking?” Any other time that Dan was awake he was blabbering on about nonsense, his words unintelligible. Now he was talking with full-on sentences?

“She’s doing it.” He weakly pointed at Gabi, who, when Gar focused closer, had little green particles of magic hovering over her.

“Is that……..supposed to happen?” Gar asked as more particles emanated from somewhere on her body.

“I have no idea, I just know that I’m feeling better.” Dan shrugged in his laying position, turning on his side.

“Is she a healer, then?” Gar questioned, furrowing his brow and gasping silently as the particles spread throughout the tent but did not leave through the multiple openings.

“I’d only assume so.” Dan looked at Gabbie in pain, his eyes reflecting guilt, and Gar assumed that he knew what happened to her. Before he could ask about her, Dan opened his mouth to speak.

“It was my fault that she’s as weak as she is. I trusted a demon and got hurt, and then when she came back she used up most of her life energy trying to heal me.” Dan whispered, guilt and sorrow heavy in his throat. Gar felt pity towards the blonde, for he looked quite miserable.

“I’m sure it’s not your fault, she’s the one that decided to help you.” Gar comforted, and Gabbie’s features flinched for a second before becoming plain and placid again.

“But I shouldn’t have trusted Nin.” Dan shook his head stubbornly.

“She was claimed, and nobody can come back after that.” Dan frowned and sighed, signaling that the conversation was over. 

Suddenly they heard a scream echo throughout the clearing where all the camps were. Gar struggled out of his sleeping roll and hastily pulled his shirt on. Dan tried to follow suit, but he was still too weak yet to function for more than talking.

“It’s ok, Dan. Stay here and watch Gab-“ Before Gar could finish his sentence, Gabbie bolted up, her eyes a bright, gleaming green from her pupils to the whites of her eyes.

“Someone’s in trouble.” She breathed, squirming out of her own sleeping roll and brushing herself off.

“Wait, Gabbie? What are you doing?” The green magic was still surrounding her, and now her green eyes were adding to the ‘powerful magic’ effect.

“I’m saving people.” She snapped, ripping the tent flaps open.

“But wait! How can I help?” Dan whined, and Gabbie turned back for a second, worry taking place of the directness. The green left her eyes as she looked at him. Was that just a side effect of healing herself? Those green eyes?

“I’m sorry Dan, but you have to stay here and rest.” She apologized before walking out of the tent. Gar hurried after her, casting a sympathetic look at Dan before sprinting to catch up.

“Gabbie?” Thalia ducked out of her tent while Molly jumped out of hers.

“Someone’s hurt.” Gabbie looked at them with a gleam in her eyes that said, ‘this isn’t up for discussion.’

“Fine, But we’re coming too.” Molly said. Two males came out of the fourth tent, looking confused.

“Entoan! Dlive! Stay behind and watch Dan!” Thalia ordered them, and they uneasily nodded.

Gabbie was ahead of them, heading towards another camp that was across a stream from theirs. They rushed to catch up to her and ask her what she was thinking when she jumped it. She full on jumped it.

Gar cursed as he realized that they weren’t going to be able to catch up to her.

“Gabbie! What are you doing?” He called, but she was too far away to hear him.

 

___

 

Gabbie was hurrying towards the other camp, feeling the pulse of pain in her nerves. There was somebody in this camp that was badly hurt, and she needed to help them.

As she neared the site, she began hearing yells of panic, hushed (not really) by soft and scared voices. And then there were laughs and cackles that would normally send shivers down her spine. But, all that went through her mind now was who’s hurt and what can I do to help?

This normally happened when her magic spread out, as she knew it had in the tent. Although she didn’t know how it got outside of the Tripe tents. They were built to keep magic in, but there could possibly be a small hole in the cloth.

As she halted at the opening of the camp, she saw something horrible. There, in the center of the camp, was the queen. Not any queen, either.

No, it was Queen Marissa, the supposedly dead queen of Dauntaff, and in her hands was a screaming little girl.


	28. Chapter 28

“Put her down!” Gabbie yelled, but her breaths quickened as she saw that the queen had paid no attention.

“Queen Marissa, put her down!” She yelled again, and this time the queens head snapped over in her direction. She was breathing even quicker now. Was it the presence of Marissa that was exhausting her this fast?

Marissa dropped the girl, a glint in her eyes as she took big strides to meet Gabbie at the edge of the camp.

“You’re a silly girl, to be interrupting me like that.” She spit, and to Gabbie’s dismay, there was a small ball of energy forming in her hand.

“Take your children! Run! To another-“ She couldn’t finish her sentence as she narrowly dodged the ball. She couldn’t run away, especially not to her camp. She couldn’t put the prince in danger.

“I assume you’re Gabriella Sorient? I think I remember you being presented to my daughter. I had a feeling you would be in this somehow.” Marissa growled, throwing another sphere and missing again. Gabbie was happy to see that the families had taken her advice and fled.

“Thalia wasn’t your daughter. Her mother was better.” Gabbie argued, her eyes following Marissas movements very carefully.

“Is that really what he told you?” Marissa laughed in dark amusement.

“Thalia was my daughter and Garuku was my son. My early husband just didn’t want people to know that. Both of them are from me, but he knew I was…………….darker. He made up a story that Thalia was his step-daughter after he remarried, but she really wasn’t. Thalia was too young to remember who she was born to then.” The Queen scowled, and Gabbie noticed that she was pacing from right to left every few seconds. Could that give her an opening?

“King Bluemoon would never lie to all of us.” Gabbie shook her head stubbornly, although within her there was a bit of doubt. I can’t let this witch get to me, she thought as she continued to follow the others movements.

“If you think that, you really are sillier than I thought. So many things were lies.” Marissa cackled, forming another ball of light in her hand.

“GABBIE!” Gar yelled from behind her, and she lost her focus for a moment. And, apparently, a moment was all it took for Marissa to be able to throw the energy ball at her, directly in the chest.

The pain that it made was unlike any pain Gabbie had faced before. She could feel her heart thumping as she screamed, the ball making her chest burn like no fire could’ve. Her vision became blurry and hazy before she began to see dots.

“No!” 

She crumpled to the ground, darkness enveloping her as she heard Gars cry become silenced by the whoosh of another energy ball.

 

___

 

Gars head hurt when he woke up. He didn’t know why, because he was hit in the lower body, not his head. He had ropes tying him to a cold metal pole, as did Gabbie.

He noticed that the green particles were back, and this time they were swarming around both Gabbie and him. He could finally see where they were coming from as well. They were streaming out quickly from her hands.

That made sense, right? Most healers healed with their hands. But at the rate that the particles were coming out, Gar wondered what was so important that they needed that many healing agents.

And then he saw it.

There was a large gash going from Gabbie’s right shoulder to just under her left arm. The blood was crusted over, but it still looked open and new. Particles were going in and out of it, speeding so fast that it was had for Gar to keep track of them. When had this happened? There was no type of blade in the fight that Gabbie and the demon had! How new was it? There were so many questions that he wanted answers to.

“Oh, good morning, Gar.” A deep voice said from behind him. He twisted to see who it was, but the ropes that crossed his chest were too tight.

“Who are you, and what do you want with us?” He growled, struggling even more against the rope. He had to get free and help his friend.

“It seems as though you really want to get out. Would you like me to help?” The voice asked, avoiding his question smoothly.

Gar stopped struggling and thought. Why would his captor help him?

“Here, I’ll give you this blade, and you can escape with your little friend.” They finally walked in front of them, and he could see it was a woman. She had black hair and olive skin. He couldn’t tell what color her eyes were.

It seemed like she wasn’t talking to him either. Was there someone else behind him?But, it didn’t seem so. She reached out with the knife in hand, the handle facing her. He remembered what his parents said. Don’t touch any kind of blade. But what if he needed to? He needed to get Gabbie help! 

His normal fear of blades left him as he took it. He caught a glint of himself in the reflection, but this time, he knew it wasn’t him. His eyes weren’t red. If it wasn’t him that she was talking to, who was it?

He widened his eyes as he felt another presence in him. What was this? Was the blade cursed? Who was this other being? So many thoughts were running through his head, and then, suddenly, they were silenced.

“Embrace your inner demon, my son. I have a duty for you.” The woman in front of her chuckled, running a finger along his cheek as he lost consciousness.


	29. Chapter 29

Pat was up at the crack of dawn looking at the map they had taken from the fort in Lascon. He had narrowed it down to two of the Divisions. It was either in Farore, which was on the edge of the map, where Lord and Lady Kjellburg ruled, or in the Uncharted Lands, which weren’t even on the map. Hence the name the Uncharted Lands.

No one knew the extent to which the Uncharted Lands went, nor what was in them. Anyone who went in never came out again. There was one outlier, if Pat could remember correctly.

His name was Cry. He was in his early twenties when he set out to chart the lands, but he came back years later with nothing but multiple scars across his face and body. Soon after that, he became the Lord of Prestia. His Lady, Cheyenne. It wasn’t more than two years before they divorced. The stones, also known as Rising Rocks (the individuals that carry them are normally heirs, hence why they ‘rise to the throne’ or ‘rise to their duties’) then put all the power and magic-stressing things on Cry’s shoulders.

It was a surprise Cry wasn’t dead yet.

Maybe Pat could get the others to let him go to Prestia and ask Lord Cry what he saw. The stressed Lord didn’t recount anything to anyone when he arrived back in the divisions, but that didn’t necessarily mean that he hadn’t seen anything. Maybe he could key them in on any demon camps he knew of. Or maybe-

“Hey, you! Get over here!” A voice yelled, and Pat whipped around to see Wade and Jp being forced into a standing position.

“Wha-who-“

“We are the Royal Guard of Taura. Stand down or we will not hesitate to harm you.” A somewhat skinny man with long hair barked. He had a small amount of facial hair on his chin and above his lips. Wait, was this Captain Fischboch?

“Yes, Sir.” Pat stood still, his hands up and away from the sheath at his side. The Captain nodded, turning back to the others. Did he remember Pat? He wondered.

“Now, tell me why you are trespassing on Tauras territory. It is surely not time for the gathering yet.” The man said, pacing in front of them.

“Excuse me, Captain Thomas. I’m Wade Barnes, the Heir of Lascon, and these are Jeremiah and Patrick. Jeremiah is my Guard,” Jp casted him a quizzical look, but kept quiet, “and Patrick is Prince Garuku Bluemoons Guard.”

“Then he’s already failing at his job, I see.” Thomas looked Pat up and down, quirking his eyebrow at Pats thin leather armor.

“Sorry, Sir, but I tried to protect my Prince. We were on a mission to find his sister, the Princess, along with the Heiress to Lascon. One of the traitors from Lascon transported my Prince to a nearby Demon camp with horn dust. Or, atleast we think they did.” Pat nodded uneasily.

“Well, thinking isn’t good enough.” He nodded curtly in response, but then he cracked a small smile. “Man oh man, isn’t it good to see you, Pat. And you, Wade. Although I don’t remember a Jeremiah during training.” 

“Well-“ Jp tried to explain how he wasn’t really a Guard, but Wade desperately cut him off.

“Thomas,” Wade pleaded, his eyebrows tilted upwards. “Please, we need to find Molly. Molly, Thalia, Gar, all of them. My time is almost out, I need to find Molly.” So Molly wasn’t just Wades friend. Pat had assumed for a long time that there was something about Molly that Wade wasn’t telling them, but he didn’t expect it to be this huge. This meant that not only the Prince and the Princess were in trouble, but also the future Lady of Lascon. That was a great thing to think about.

“Well, then we must get moving. Come, I will take you back to the fort and we can discuss possible locations.” Thomas waved his hand, gesturing for them to follow him. They looked uncertainly at each other. The last time they trusted somebody that was close to the ruler, they were lead into a trap. The captain noticed their hesitance and sighed.

“Look, if I was going to betray Mark, I would’ve already. He’s my brother, I would never hurt him.” Wades bittersweet smile told them that they had no other choice but to follow him, so they started their walk to Tauras fort. Unfortunately for them, Ipleron was a long way away from the Belianthropian Forest (the Belia Forest for short) where they were currently located.

They traveled for hours, Thomas letting them get their horses at the start of their trip. Pat could swear that he could hear Epona groaning as they continued on into the night. Pat agreed with her. He was worn out from that days events as well, and they had only stopped for short meals of the bread that they still had in their saddle bags from Lascon. The fort in Sevion seemed so far away now. Pat had never done this much traveling in his entire life.

Finally, though, Thomas and a few of his patrol stopped, signaling that it was time to stop and rest. The captains reason was, “we don’t need poor Jeremiah falling into his own horses dung while he’s fast asleep, now do we?” Jp then tiredly argued that Pineapple would never do such a thing to him, but Thomases grin widened when Pineapple whinnied.

“Hmmmmm, I don’t know, Pineapple just said he might.” Thomas joked, and Jp sat straight up. 

“You may speak horse, but I speak Pineapple. He would never do anything of the sorts, now would you, Piney?” Jps remark was rebutted as Pineapple reared up on his back legs, causing Jp to slide onto the ground.

“Sleep time it is.” Wade said, hopping off of Bill and giving him a quick wipe down. Gars horse, Star, was connected by a lead that was attached to the back of Eponas harness. Star had been following Wade and Jp when they went after Pat. Pat felt as if it was his duty to take care of the beautiful chestnut while Gar wasn’t there.

After Pat wiped down, watered, and fed the two females, he unharnessed Epona and placed her saddle and saddle bag on the ground. While the horses laid down in the underbrush, Pat searched through his bag for his map. Then, he remembered. It was back in the clearing, where he had dropped it when Thomas caught them.

“Here, you need this, Patrick? We can do Division hunting now if you want.” Pat heard Thomases voice behind him, and it was all he could do not to jump. He whipped around to see the long-haired Knight holding a map in his hand, this one larger and more detailed than the one they had snagged in the fort.

“I already have a few narrowed down.” Pat started after they sat, cross-legged in the dirt. The others had already turned in for the night, unrolling their sleeping mats and immediately falling into their slumber, leaving the two of them the last ones awake. Even the horses seemed to be snoring.

“It obviously can’t be in Taura, because you guys patrol to much,” Pat started. Thomas nodded for him to continue. “It couldn’t be Dauntaff because people already scoured there from top to bottom. Lukerik is too loud and playful, if it were there then somebody would’ve already stumbled over it playing frisbee or something.” That made the captain crack up, and he had to hold a hand to his face to keep quiet. They both knew it was true, Lord McLaughlin was quite an athletic fellow and loved to host outside tournaments in the Paratopic Forest that was at the western border of his Division.

“Lascon would be an easy choice, since the Lord was gone, but one of the Guards or Knights would’ve seen something. We would’ve too, since the only place to hide it would’ve been in the Beli forest, which we currently are in. Lord Cry has been really hard on patrols over in Prestia lately since word of Gars capture got out, so I highly doubt that they would have it there. So, the only possible answers would be Farore of the Uncharted Lands.” Pat took a deep breath of air. Thomas was nodding his head, but there was a questioning look in his eyes. Luckily for Pat, he didn’t have to ask, for Thomas soon spit out what he had been thinking.

“What about Hanoi? That’s another possible location.” 

Patrick was speechless. Was Thomas insane? The Trainers would’ve definitely found the camp if it was in their territory!

“Hear me out,” Thomas defended once he saw the look on Pats face. “Things have gotten past the Trainers before. And, both Snow and Nin have gone missing. Dont you think that’s a little fishy? Besides, no one goes into the Uncharted Lands, not even demons. It unheard of. And Lady Marzia just had her baby Marciole, remember? So it’s not like defense would let anything evil in.”

Pat had to admit, Thomas had a point. Nin had been missing for months now, and nobody had heard from her. People had began to speak of her fleeing from the Trainers, or, even worse, teaming up with the demons. Others spoke of her being turned, and becoming one of those monsters herself. And nobody had heard from Snow in months.

“So, we’re going to Hanoi tomorrow?” Patrick asked, and Thomas chuckled.

“Easy there, Pat. We still have to get provisions, and weapons. And you bunch have to see Mark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long with this chapter guys! But. I think it’s worth it, I love this chapter! :P


	30. Chapter 30

“The Bane. Hated by all except its handler. Hating all except its handler. I’m glad I can finally pass this on to you, my son. You and this sword will do wonderful things for our race.” Marissa gave Gar a sword with a horrific dark purple blade. The handle was curved in and pointed at the tips. If Gar accidentally fumbled it, the spikes would surely go through his hand.

But, what scared Gabbie the most when she woke up was the malicious look that came to his face when he grabbed a hold on it. The gash across her chest was slowly being healed, but now the skin was mending over it, so she was jolted out of unconsciousness by the new nerves reacting to the pain.

And when she woke up, she saw Marissa holding that wicked sword in her hand. That god forsaken sword that she wished she would never see again. 

She knew that sword, except she called it it’s respectful name; Saron. The demon commander himself. When he was defeated, he was turned into the weapon that caused his demise, as do most demons. His death day weapon was a sword. Gabbie remembered that day, that horrid day. Back when she still worked with the demons.

She had been in the labs, inspecting one of the prisoners secretly. He had stepped on a rusty nail while trying to help his camp-mates build tents, and she had brought him to the lab so that she could treat him. Mid-examination, a warrior came in and said that invaders had killed the commander. Her heart jumped in her throat, and she rushed off to see if it was true. To see if her commander was really what they said he was. 

She entered the room in a whirl of white lab coat and glasses, hair flying in every direction. There, standing in front of her, was the man who killed her commander. Ausenthine. Ausenthine Garoft, the explorer who had first found the Divisions when they were in drought and famine and saved them. A demon.

She remembered the scowl on his face when he saw her.

“What are you doing here, Monica? Are you helping them?” He asked, stepping towards her cautiously. His red hair and hazel eyes. 

“Of course I’m not working for them, Ausen! I was captured!” I exclaimed, eyes widening in fear as he laughed.

“Only people that actually support the throne can call me that.” He drew out his dagger, guilt and malice mixing in his eyes.

“Ausenthine! Stop!” She had desperately called, backing away before tripping on her coat. He stopped and looked at her, and he mocked pity.

“Oh no, the scientist has fallen. What a shame. It makes it easier to exterminate her.” She shivered as he bent down with his blade pointed at her abdomin. She saw what she assumed was Saron behind him, and that made her heart leap. She didn’t really like the guy, especially since he killed her family. But then he took her in, and she was greatful for that.

“It’s too bad, I thought you would be my wife one day, Monica. I imagined us, having little knights running around. I guess that won’t happen now, hm?” He pressed his blade to the black cloth of her shirt. Before he could press down any farther, she rolled away and desperately grabbed Saron. The handle warmed in her palm, and a purple protector formed around her hand. Her midsection was bleeding, and the cloth was torn, but she still stood up with the sword uncomfortably in her hand. 

“I never betrayed you. If anything, you betrayed me. You’re the demon here, not I, Ausenthine.” She breathed, changing her grip on the handle.

“But I don’t help these demons, I destroy them.” He lunged, and she backed up. He knocked the blade out of her hand, startling her. She yanked out her emergency dagger from her coat pocket and thrusted it into his midsection, twisting it with tears in her eyes. He looked at her in horror, the light fading rapidly.

“I-I’m so sorry. loved you.” She whispered as she pulled out her dagger and laid him on the ground, closing his eyes. Tear were still pouring out of her eyes as his body turned into a black dagger. Black for possession, a demon spell that would rot your soul like heat rots fruit. Most demons didn’t even think about using possession. Not even Saron bent that low.

She picked up the dagger and turned it in her hand, and, deciding to keep it, she threw her old dagger and replaced it with the black one. Ausenthine.

So, as you could imagine, seeing Saron again was not a happy thing for Gabbie. Seeing Gar holding it was even worse.

“You called it by the wrong name.” She croaked, twisting feverently in her bonds. “It’s name is Saron, and give it some respect, it’s gone through a lot.”

“I’m sure it has, Gabriella. Or, should I say, Monica.”


	31. Chapter 31

Lord Fischbachs fort was definitely not modest. It had large pink banners, and statues of a small box with a soft smile and bright blue eyes. All around the fort. Lord Mark himself looked like a pretty average lord, though, thankfully. There were servants crowded around him and his throne, although when he saw Thomas and the tired crew walk in, he made a shooing motion with his hand.

“Tom? Wade? Who are these people?” Mark asked, eyeing each of them up. As Thomas told their story about what happened, a look of concern grew on Marks features.

“You’re saying that the Prince is gone? Oh my…” Mark asked after Thomas finished. He was stroking his chin, where a bit of unshaven stubble was growing.

“Yes, my Lord. And we were hoping to come to you for assistance. If it’s not too much, of course.” Pat kneeled before the lord.

“Ah, get up, Patrick. There’s no need for kneeling here. As for your question, I would love to help you, but I cannot.” Mark shook his head, sorrow deep in his eyes. He picked up a letter that was to his left. “You see, the Lady of Lukerik has fallen ill, and Sean has sent for me to take care of her. He cannot, for he is preparing for war.”

“War? War with who?” Jp asked, his eyes growing wide at the thought of violence. War was never good, and, to Jp, it was worse, Wade thought. His cousin had died fighting in the war. His last piece of family had died in a war over who had control over the Kasa River. Dauntaff, Lascon, and Lukerik had all been a part of that battle.

“The demons, of course. Have you not heard? They killed Ellik, the poor child. I can’t imagine what Sean and Signe are going through. Sean is furious, and he’s preparing to full-force attack them.” Mark frowned, looking back down at the letter. 

“Mark,” Wade started, pain reflecting in his eyes. Ellik? He remembered her birth. He had been on a trip to Lascon to help bring in the harvest, since his father had no need of him and Sean was still a Heir. Lord Daniel and his wife had her right before the war over the waterways began. That’s when the Lord died and his wife fled, leaving Sean to become the Lord and the official caretaker of his little sister. Mark looked up again, although Wade noticed that his nose was tinted red. That happened when Mark cried.

“Mark, the demons are holding thousands of people hostage. If Sean attacks them without them being released, then it’s likely that some of those people will die. We need to free these people. We need to go to free them first before Sean accidently hurts them.” Mark nodded, wiping his eyes quickly as he composed himself. So he was in.

“Me and Thomas think we know where to look, then.” Pat said, pulling the map that Tom gave him out of his belt loop.

The concept that the camp may be in Hanoi didn’t surprise the others as much as it had surprised Pat. They all agreed that it was the most likely that it would be in the Protectors Division, because some of the Protectors were known to have been helping the demons anyway. Snow included.

“So, how are we planning on traveling then?” Mark asked after they explained what everybody already knew. “I mean, traveling by horse would take too long, since Sean is already there. So what are we going to do?”

“Well, we don’t have anything else to ride, do we? So we’re just gonna have to ride as fast as we can.” Pat said firmly, and Jp smiled.

“Man, Pineapple is gonna have so much fun running!” Jp exclaimed.

“Am I able to be of assistance?” A woman asked, walking in. A spark of recognition appeared on Jps face.

“Amy?” Wade remembered Amy, the blacksmith who had made the calming charm. She was the Lady of Taura?

“Oh hey, Jp! How’s the charm workin out for you?” She asked, smiling.

“Well, I mean, it’s kinda gone now.” He coughed nervously, chuckling as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Well, I can always make you another one while you’re here. Now, come, I’ll get you into living quarters after I send a message to Molly. That’s the expected Lady, yes?” She asked Wade, and he blushed and nodded. “Well, I heard she was captured, so it should reach her.”

Amy pulled out a strangely-shaped green charm and pressed a button on it. It disappeared in a few seconds worth of time, and she smiled again. 

“That charm was programmed to go to Molly, I actually programmed it before you came, I just never had the time to launch it.” She explained, but Jp was confused. How did it know to go to Molly? How did Amy even know that Molly was in the camp? Pat decided to voice Jps thoughts, thankfully.

“How did you know that Molly was in the camp?”

Amy laughed, and Mark smiled. 

“Tyler came to visit home the other day and keyed us in on who was in the camp that Snow was residing in. And, before you ask,” Mark chuckled at Pat and Jps wide eyes. Wade did too, because he remembered when Tyler came to visit Taura. “Yes, Tyler once lived in Ipleron.”

___

 

“Did you just call me-“ Gabbie was shaking, some kind of unknown worry was making her sweat.

“Yes, I did.” Marissas grin went from ear to ear at the sign of Gabbie’s discomfort. “I have ears everywhere, my dear. At first, I didn’t really think you would be a demon. But now I can see it.” Gabbie was a mess. She was shaking, sweating, pulling at the rope. Nobody ever called her Monica, not even Snow. Why would she bring it up now?

“I know you’re trying to hide from what you did,” Marissa continued. Gar was unresponsive, his eyes wide and looking at the Guard that was tied up. Then again, that wasn’t that surprising, since this wasn’t Gar anymore. This was a demon. Gar wouldn’t have followed Marissas orders, or worse. Gar wouldn’t have taken Saron. Any demon can feel the pumping evil coming from the cursed blade, which means that Gar would be able to feel it.

At those words, her head jolted up in panic. Crimes? The only crimes that she could think of were the ones that she was reminiscing on before. How did the evil queen know about them? The Guard cursed, looking up at Marissa.

“I know that you killed Ausenthine, darling. I know what you did, I know that you didn’t stop Ausenthine from killing Saron. You were too-“

“I couldn’t stop him!” Gabbie cried, giving up on trying to escape. Monica had voiced the one thing that had been eating at her for centuries. “I couldn’t stop him, I got there too late. And then I killed Ausen out of fury and fear. I’m horrible.” The shaking grew worse as a warmth travelled down her cheeks. She could only guess it was tears.

“How could you ever live with yourself, knowing that you killed your poor fiancé, the poor boy.” Marissa tsk-ed, before beginning to walk out. “Gar, keep a watch on her.” Then, the queen left.

After a few minutes of just silence, Gar spoke up.

“I’ve been having dreams about you.” He whispered. This sounded like the real Gar. Not the mind-controlled, evil one. She looked up, tears drying on her face.

“What kind of dreams?” She sniffled, sighing and leaning her head on the pole to which she was tied to.

“It was actually one dream, I guess. You were talking to a man named Shawn, and you were under the name Monica. You had to leave him to die, because he was turning into a demon.” Gar bit his lip, his eyes switching from the red and blue they had been before to brown. And then back again.

She gave a tight-lipped smile, remembering that moment. She’s lucky she didn’t have any tears left.

“Shawn was Snow. Or, Shawn is now Snow. That’s how he was turned into a demon. I had to leave him to make sure that his wife didn’t leave for Dauntaff. St that point in time, Lukerik and Dauntaff were in a war, and the Lady wanted to leave to side with Dauntaff. Snow, or Shawn, told me to make sure she stayed to protect her people until their Heir was ready to rule. Leaving him and killing Ausen are the two things that weigh me down every second of my life. The two things that I could control, I didn’t.”


	32. Chapter 32

“Oh, my son. I have a mission for you.” Marissa purred, walking into Gabbie’s cell quietly. The Guard, who had just received a round of beatings for trying to get out of her bonds, was knocked out and lying in the corner of the tiny room.

Gar looked at her with his bright red and blue eyes, a sadistic happiness shining in them.

“Yes, mother? What shall I do?” He walked over with his sword in hand, and, even though he tried to hide it, a tiny smile went onto his face.

“I want you to pay your sister a………...visit.”

Gar laughed maniacally, his eyes glinting in a harsh light before Marissa continued.

“Only hurt one, though. We need to instill fear. We need to let them know that you will kill them, given the chance.”

 

___

 

The light of early spring came through the crack in the tents top, but Thalia did not want to get up. Getting up meant going another day without Gabbie, and she didn’t know if she was ready to do that yet.

Yet again, hadn’t she been doing that the past three months? She groaned as she reluctantly sat up and stretched in her bed that was made of thin animal skin. They had just made a new one, since her old one was practically destroyed after snow came into her tent. She had let the moisture there too long, and it had become bumpy and uncomfortable. Nobody wanted to sleep with that.

“Hey Thalia, breakfast is almost ready.” Dan peeped through her tent door with an unsure smile. Dan had been able to walk for about a month now. 

“I’m coming Dan.” Thalia stood up and ran her fingers through her hair. It was less a leisure and more a comforter for her. Her hair was one of the only things she could control anymore.

As soon as she deemed that her hair was good enough, she stepped out of the tent. She came out just in time to see a cute little chipmunk climb up a tree. She admired it, because it could go where it pleased. She had to stay here. She had already tried once before to leave, about a week after Gabbie was kidnapped, but the barrier burned her hands. Literally.

She had only really gotten the bandages off two days ago. Speaking of which-

“Hey Thal, how are your hands?” Molly asked, sitting at a small fire with Entoan and Dlive. They had grown closer to each other, and Thalia had learned to forgive them. They were great helpers around the camp, and they didn’t turn tail when a demon came anymore. Then again, they hadn’t had any demons there lately. Good or bad.

“They’re doing better, thanks to you. Have you heard anything lately?” The second Thalia asked her question, there was a loud thump in the forest. Molly jumped up, grabbing the dagger that Dlive had made her. All of them had daggers currently, besides Thalia, who had a staff.

Seconds later, a loud noise, resembling a growl, rattled their skulls, and it took everything for Thalia to not cover her ears. 

“Demon?” She looked at Dan, and he swallowed and nodded. Great.

Before they could decide what strategy they wanted to use, a demon sprinted into the camp at top speed. A demon that looked like……….

“Gar?” Thalia whispered in horror, and when he looked over, she knew she was correct. Oh god, her brother………

He smirked, his red eye and his blue eye flashing.

“Hello, sister.” He addressed her so formally, she wanted to cry. That wasn’t her brother. She cursed, and he laughed.

“What’s wrong, Thalia?” He walked forward slowly, and she looked away. She didn’t want to hurt him, even if he was a demon. He swung at her, but she didn’t see it.

“Thalia! Get out of the way!” She wasn’t paying attention to him, and before she knew it, she was being pushed out of the way by Entoan. The sword cut him across the chest, and he fell with a thud.

“Entoan!” She yelled, kneeling down to him and placing a hand on his chest to somehow suppress the blood from coming through the large gash.

“It’s but a…..flesh wound.” He smiled, although he flinched in pain when she removed her hand. She bit her lip and looked up at Gar, who still looked like he wanted to be out of here. Like this was boring.

Thalia defiantly stood up, her staff ready to attack. As much as she didn’t want to hurt him, she needed to defend her friends.

“You’re not my brother.” She snarled, thrusting her staff at his midsection, the impact cracking at least a few ribs. But, surprisingly, he still walked forward with his bored look.

“Gar! Come on! Don’t hurt us! Please!” She pleaded, backing away with every step he took. Some sort of thing happened with his eyes, but before she could recognize it, it disappeared.

“You’re lucky that boy saved your life, my dear sister. I was only assigned to hurt one person in this camp. But here, I’ll leave you with a parting gift.” He stabbed her through the shoulder, and she crumpled in pain. This attack was meant to be a surprise, she realized, so that they wouldn’t be ready. They barely put up any fight at all.

He leaned down so that his face was inches away from her, and he smirked.

“Good bye, my dear sister.” He said, teleporting away to who knew where, and taking the sword with him so that her blood could now flow faster out of the gash. She cursed again, words that royalty should not know, before she looked over at Entoan.

Molly, Dan, and Dlive were tied up, she realized. When did that happen?

A flash of light appeared in front of Molly, and a charm fell on the ground. It was green, and Thalia couldn’t identify the shape, for she was in and out of focus.

“Oh my god.” Molly breathed, tears filling her eyes. “Oh my god, we are going to be saved.”


	33. Chapter 33

It would normally take months for people to prepare for such a long trip, going from Taura to Hanoi. But, it only took the crew about two days. They all had people that they wanted to save, and that fueled them to keep going. 

And then there were things that discouraged them. For Pat, that was the enormous amount of food that had to be packed. He was down in the kitchen with the chef (what was her name? Kathryn?) and they were packing food, since Pat didn’t need to pack any extra clothes. He guessed that was because he only wore one one suit of armor, and the only thing that he really needed to pack was socks. And underwear. Couldn’t forget that.

It was the last day before they were schedualed to leave, and things were getting hectic down in the kitchen.

“Hey, Pat, do you mind passing me the rutabaga?” Kat asked, and he turned around to look at her in confusion.

“Rutabaga? Why do we need a rutabaga?” He asked, laughing a bit. She blushed, muttering something that was probably uncomplimentary under her breath. Out loud, she said, “it’s one of Lord Marks favorite foods.”

“Ma’am, I hope you know that on a quest like this, we can’t take leisure’s like that. We must only take what we need.” Pat said, and she frowned. She then let out a long, deep sigh and nodded. She took about half the things that she had in the bag out and put them on the counter. Pies, cookies, good lord, was that a three tier cake he saw? He was lucky he spoke up, he didn’t want to be the one to tote that around.

After an hour (and a check to make sure they didn’t have any un-necessary food), Patrck was finally able to pick up the pack and carry it to the main entrance.

“What took you so long, Pat?” Jp asked, laughing as Pat made an annoyed face. Mark gave a chuckle as well.

“I assume Kathryn tried to pack all of my favorites, yes? Well, thank you for stopping her, or else I wouldn’t be able to fight. So much food makes me sleepy.” He chuckled again, and the others joined in. It was quiet laughter, but only because it was early in the morning.

Pat walked over and strapped the bag of food onto Eponas saddle, satisfied when she didn’t complain. She was quite finicky, and if she didn’t do anything, then that meant that it wasn’t too heavy.

Pat jumped onto his saddle, since everyone else seemed about ready to go. He felt energy well up inside of him, thinking about Gar. Would Gar be there? Oh god, he hoped so. He hoped that he would be able to see his Prince again.

He bounced up and down in his saddle.

“Come on, let’s go!” He exclaimed, looking back at them. Mark nodded, smiling, and Pat started galloping in the direction of the Takara River. It was only a short travel to get from Ipleron to the river, so they were allowed to go at whatever speed they liked, as long as they kept on the time schedule. They had to be there before midday. In fact, they should probably be across the river before midday, since it was morning now. 

The wind whistling around Pat felt amazing on his travel-worn skin, and he allowed himself to think back to the day when he first met Gar. The anxiety when he, entered the room, the excitement when he got to see Gars stone corgi collection. The fear that came with the discovery of the purple residue on Thalia’s bed. 

Oh, those were the times that Pat loved the most. The times where he and Gar worked together and got the answers together. He missed his partner. He missed him, but now they could finally be reunited, after so long. He would finally be able to be happy again.

Four months and seven days ago. That’s when Pat had been happy last. That’s when Gar had been taken away from them, and Pat swore to avenge him. That’s what Pat planned to do right now. He planned to save his friend from the demon camp.

“Hey, hold up there!” A voice called out, and Epona skidded to a stop. When Pats mind came back from wherever it had been, he realized that he was on the bank of the Takara River. How long had it taken him to get there? He could’ve sworn it was only 30 minutes. But, when he looked up, he noticed that the sun had moved a lot from where it once was. Maybe it had been an hour.

Pat turned his head to see who had called out. A young man that didn’t look any older than 27 was standing to the far right of Pat, and he was standing on a raft. Was this the transportation that Mark had notified them would be here? He only could assume so. But, it could also be a bandit posing as a guide. Pat decided to wait it out and talk to the others about it when they got there.

He waved pleasantly towards the male, tanking him for stopping him before making Epona walk away from the bank. They walked around for the tiniest bit before finding somewhere to settle down and take a break.

About half an hour later, when Pat had finished eating a nice, juicy peach, he looked up at the sun to see what time it was. He was beginning to worry. It was almost midday. Where could they be?

~~~

As Wade watched Pat bolt ahead, a nagging worry pulled at his insides. What happened if they got separated? Pat was too headstrong to keep himself calm and quiet if he got to the Trainers Woods before they did.

“Hey, I know that look too well. He’s going to be ok, Wade. He may be reckless, but he’s not stupid. And I’ve watched him train, in his downtime, and I don’t think anybody would mess with him.” Mark comforted, and Wade sighed. He had never seen Patrck in battle, but almost anybody that knew him said that he was a wonderful fighter. Even the Guards in Lascon murmured about him sometimes. Something about his ability to reach his magic out far and then use it? Wade couldn’t remember.

“Yeah, I guess. Hey, Jp, wait up!” Wade and Bill galloped after Jp and Pineapple, who were far ahead. Mark and his horse, Bubble (although Wade would swear that he heard Mark call his horse Bubblebutt once), followed soon after. If Pats horse Epona could go fast, Bill could go faster.

Soon, Bill and Wade passed Pineapple and Jp. That victory was short lived, though, because then they were stopped. 

Atleast 500 bison were pooled in front of them.

“Uh, Mark? What do we do?” Jp turned around in his saddle, looking questioningly at the Lord. 

“I-I don’t know.” Came Marks response as he bit his lip. “I can’t speak to animals, unlike Thomas. I can only grow plants.”

“They let a person who can grow plants into the royal family?” Jp exclaimed, and, although it wasn’t meant to be seen as insulting or rude, it was.

“I lied, and my parents backed me up. Besides, my magic was over the 6.5 mark, so I would be allowed to stay in the family anyway.” Mark defended himself, and Jp apologized profusely. Mark waved it off, saying Jp didn’t know, but Wade could still see the hurt in his friends eyes.

When he looked up, a new worry was installed inside of him. He wasn’t worried that much about Marks feelings anymore. He was worried that they wouldn’t make it to the river on time. It was already almost midday.

“Uh, Mark? You said you had plant magic, right? Can you do anything to get these bison out of the way?” Wade asked, his heart beating rapidly as he thought about what would happen if they didn’t make it to the river on time.

“I-I-“

“I’ll help.” They whipped around to see Thomas riding on his horse.

“Tom? What are you doing here? I left you in charge!” Mark exclaimed, his eyes wide.

“Amy voulenteered, besides, I can’t just let my little brother get away that easily. Here, I’ll talk to one of the bison.” Little brother? If Mark was Thomases little brother, then why was Mark on the throne?

Thomas got off of his horse and walked up to what seemed to be the biggest bison in the herd, and immediately he began to imitate the animals low groans. The animal moaned back, and Thomas grinned.

“They’re just hungry. Mark, could you grow some grass over there?” Mark nodded and got off of Bubble. He crouched down, closing his eyes and then touching the ground. None of them saw anything happen where Mark was crouching, but when they looked to where Thomas had pointed before, they now saw that what was then a shorn barren patch of dirt was now covered in grass.

Mark stood up, wiping his forehead and smiling as they all watched the herd move to the newly grown grass with enthusiasm.

“Ok, now, let’s catch up with Patrck. We don’t have much time to lose.”

~~~

Pat was worried, to say the least. His friends still weren’t there, and-

“Pat!” His Head jolted to the side to see that his friends were galloping at full speed towards him. A relieved smile broke out on his face as they slowed down and jumped off next to him.

“There you guys are! I was worried that you had gotten lost, with Wades tracking abilities and all.” He sighed, standing up. He noticed that Thomas was standing there with them. He should’ve known that the knight would follow.

“Hey! I’m not that bad!”

“How’s not the time, you two. We need to get on that raft and get out of here. Please tell me he’s still here?” Mark asked anxiously, and Pat looked over his shoulder. Yup, the young, tall guy was still there.

“Still there.” He confirmed, and Mark let out a relieved breath.

They all walked over to the raft with their horses leads in hand.

“Everybody, this is Joseph, or J-Fred.” Mark introduced him, and they all shook his hand as he continued to rattle off their names to the rafter.

“Come on, I see it’s already past noon,” They all looked up at the sky and were sorry to say he was right. So much for staying on time. “So let’s get this done as fast as we can. Shall we?”

They all boarded the raft, and, it surprisingly fit everybody. The trip across the river was a short one, since it was now spring and all the water had melted from winter already. They had actually just missed the huge flood that happened recently.

When they reached the other bank, they bid farewell to J-Fred and got back onto their horses. 

“Hey, Mark? How long till we get to the Trainers Forest from here?” Jp asked, and Pat worried that he was going to be a nuisance.

“From here? Only about twelve hours if we move at a consistent pace.” 

“Wait, twelve hours?! Then why did we have to pack all this stuff?” Pat exclaimed in disbelief. Why did they pack so much when they were going to be traveling for so little?

“Well, with the fact that we have tons of medical supplies for the wounded in Wades pack and tons of food for the potentially starved prisoners in yours, I think we packed just the right amount.”


	34. Chapter 34

Words of escape were being murmured through the entire camp since that charm that Molly received appeared. Word had been passed along different sections, and the excitement was building. The bad thing was, the demons had heard about it too. People were now being herded into the center building that Thalia and Gabbie and pretty much everybody else had gone through when they first arrived. Some people called it Queen Marissas castle. Was this where Gabbie and Gar were?

“Molly, what is that thing again?” Thalia whispered, since Dan and Entoan were sleeping. All of their wounds had been healed by a healer from another camps section. It had taken a while, but since they really didn’t have anything to do, they had the time.

“It’s what Amy calls an ‘Alien’. She sends it to people when they are in trouble and help is coming. I don’t know if Mark, her husband, is aware of this, but she has an entire secret community just outside of Iplerons limits where girls gather and help save others. Im pretty sure that Tyler goes there too sometimes.”

“Wait, Tyler? As in Stone-Faced Tyler? The Trainer? At a women’s gathering?” Thalia stifled a laugh. Molly was smiling as well. 

“Yes, it seems almost impossible, does it not? But anyway, if Amy sent this charm, that means that they are less than a week away. We are going to get out of this hell hole soon.” Molly’s smile turned watery. How long had she been a subject to this torture and the threat of demons coming into what you thought as safe and killing you?

“How long have you been here?” She asked, and Molly quickly wiped her eyes.

“Me? Two and a half years.”

~~~

“You gave away Gar to Marissa?” Dan Howell exclaimed, anger evident in his voice.

“That’s more magic we have to control, you know that, right? The Lords, Ladies, Prince, and Princess all take some of the magic when they rule. If Gar dies, a big chuck of that magic lands on us!” Phil jumped in.

“Guys, we can’t argue right now. Not at a time like this. I had to give Gar to her, or she would catch on. That’s also why I haven’t visited their camp after Gar disappeared either. But, right now, we have more pressing matters. Amy sent Molly one of her aliens.” Snow explained, and all of their complaints stopped.

“So, you mean, we can finally go and save our people from this camp?” Snow had kept them away from the camp because it would ruin the project. What was his project? To exterminate the most powerful demons from the inside. If he had let the Trainers in there, then they would’ve put a stop to the camp, and the demons would go off the radar. Now, though, most of them were gone (thanks to Snow) and the ones that were left decided to leave the camp. To keep it up was useless.

“Yes, we can stop them now. And, that would give Ethan the opportunity to look for possible new Trainers.” Snow pointed out, and they all nodded. 

“I could possibly get any of the possibilities out of the camp. I know where everyone is and what section of the camp they are in.” Jesse Crump, or Crumpler, spoke up. He had also been undercover at the camp, although he had taken logs of everybody that had been in that camp and where they were located. That could be proven useful.

“So it’s settled? We will help the army save them?” Ethan asked excitedly.

“It’s not an army, Eth. It’s only Lord Fischbach, Sir Static, Lord Barnes, Jeremiah Woodward, and Sir Fischbach. From what I’ve heard though, don’t underestimate Sir Static. His magic has come a long way, even though it was still magnificent when he was training with us. I imagine he’s going to play a major part in breaking that barrier spell.”

“How long till they arrive?”

“I say at most, four hours.”

“Then we should head there, no?”

~~~

When Pat, Wade, Thomas, Mark, and Jp entered the Trainers Woods, they saw something that you couldn’t find anywhere else in the Kingdom. Pixies.

Their wings glowed with a soft light as they flittered from flower to flow, landing and laying down on the gentle petals.

“Very pretty, aren’t they?” A voice said behind them, and Pat whipped around to see all the Trainers standing there, obviously ready for battle. Except…...Nin? And Snow was back.

“You seem surprised, Pat.” Crump smiled, and Pat nodded. He didn’t have any words. All of them, they were all here.

“Phil?” Thomas asked, a hug smile breaking open on his face. Phil smiled as well and waved. Thomas and Phil had been good friends, although they were like student and teacher.

“Hey Mark.” Dan said suddenly, and the Lord looked up. “Wheres Kyre? And his friends, Ryan and Matt? Kyre was your Guard right? And Matt and Ryan were kinda like back-ups?”

Mark took a breath and held it for a while. Then he released it, obviously troubled by the question.

“Dan died.” He finally said, looking away. “Ryan and Matt left.” The expression on Tyler’s face said that he knew already. This seemed to be news to the rest of them.

“What do you mean they left?” Phil asked, and Mark kept his head down while answering this time.

“They went into the Uncharted Lands.”

There was silence, but nobody dared to break it. It was like mourning for them.

After what seemed like centuries, Pat cleared his throat.

“I think we should head towards the camp. We can have a proper memorial later, but now, there are innocent people that are in danger.”

They all agreed and the humans went on their horses. The others managed, for Crump was literally half a horse himself, Tyler had stone wings, Ethan could transform, and Snow could glide.

“It’s by the part of the Takara River that goes through our woods. I’ll lead you there.” Snow said, and they started their walk. It wasn’t that far away, according to Snow.

Well, what was ‘wasn’t that far away’ turning into a six hour ride. Figures. Luckily, Epona, Bill, Bubble, Crowley (Toms horse) and Pineapple could handle it. Dan and Phil’s horses seemed fine as well. The others, well, they didn’t really care. They had been through a lot more, at it was probably worse than the six hours that they had to endure now.

Finally, though, they made it.

And there was a barrier. Of course.

“What do we do now?” Jp asked, and Pat bit the side of his cheek.

“It’s hot, any of you would burn your hands horribly if you even tried to touch it.”

“Metal conducts heat, right?” Pat asked, completely ignoring the whole ‘burn your hands horribly’ part.

“Yeah? Why?” They asked, confused. Pat looked down at his metal gauntlets. Metal conducted head, and it also conducted electricity. If he could fight the heat with his electricity, then-

“I have a plan.” He said, getting off of Epona. He walked over to the barrier and placed his metal-covered hand on it.

“Wait, Pat! What are you-“

A big shock of electricity went through out the clearing, causing everybodies hair to stand up on end. Where Pats hand was, there was a visual fight of fire against electricity. His entire arm was tense, and neither the armor that he wore nor his stringy arms could conceal the muscles that bulged. You would expect that though, because that was a common response for pain. And boy, was he in a lot of pain right now.

He could feel the veins in his forehead pop out, but he kept pushing with all his might. He had to break this barrier to get to Gar. He pushed the electricity through this body, the lightning coursing through his veins. He could tell that the others were watching in mystification, but he had no time to dwell on that. His electricity slowly spread out across half the dome, and then,

Then, it shattered.

The magic shards rained down on them, yet now they were harmless. Harmless and beautiful. Thay casted the illusion of a rainbow. They allowed themselves to be hypnotized by the beauty for a moment before getting back to their task. They had to save the people.

The moment they crossed the threshold, chaos erupted. Ranks and ranks of demons came charging at them, and in the lead was, well, 

It was Gar.


	35. Chapter 35

When the initial word of escape came into Gabbie’s cell, it was by Marissas mouth, and the words were not hopeful at all.

“An army is coming to free the prisoners. We either kill them now or allow them to be taken away. I, myself, vote to kill them. I need time though, my son. Can you please try to delay them?” Marissa asked, her voice as slow and as smooth as honey. Gars eyes shimmered in the dark, dank cell.

They were going to kill all of the prisoners? That meant Thalia was going to get killed. Oh god, his sister was going to die at the hands of his mother, and he didn’t even know it. And Gabbie’s bond was going to die, and she couldn’t stop it. Oh god. She had to warn him.

“Gar! Gar! Don’t kill Thalia! Gar!” She yelled, pulling at her binds with all her might. “Don’t kill your sister!”

But the yelling didn’t get through to him. He was far too gone in his demon self to get pulled out of it. Then, Gabbie remembered something. Gar had his stone. He wouldn’t be able to rule his Kingdom without getting out of his demon self.

“Gar! Think of your Kingdom!” He had just been ignoring her till this point, but when she mentioned Kingdom, she thought she saw something flicker in his expression. But then it left.

“Shall we go, Mother?” Gar addressed his mom, turning away from Gabbie completely. She felt something warm trickle down her cheeks as they left, and then a shudder tremored through her body. She had to get out of this and save them.

She struggled against the ropes, hoping that her years of training would pay off. If she could twist her wrists around, then she could untie the rope. Her metal gauntlets were still on her hands as well, so if she could get out of the rope, then she could break the door handle.

She had to focus. She had to think about all of the people that she needed to save. 

And then the rope was off.

Her sharp gauntlet ends must’ve cut through the rope while she was struggling. Well, that saved her some time that would’ve otherwise been wasted on untying the knot. She cut through the bings at her ankles as well, jumping when she was freed.

Thalia, Molly, Dayna, Ashley, Dan, Entoan, Dlive……….

She was running through the halls of the castle now, her door broken into shards behind her. She could hear screams, and that only pushed her to go faster. If only she could-

And then, she stopped. She was in the cavern where all of the prisoners were being held. Screams were still echoing around her, yet they were distant now. They were all gone now, because laying there, blood pouring out of her head, was Ashley.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands of dead bodies were laying around the large, cavernous room. Bodies stacked on top of bodies, all of them unmoving and quite dead. On the other end of the room were cowering bodies of the the people that were next in line to die. Then, in the middle in the room, was Marissa holding Thalia by the throat with a sword poised, ready to kill.

“Thalia!” Gabbie screamed, sprinting as fast she could towards the evil queen. From underneath her cotton, padded cloak that was under her metal armor she pulled Ausenthine from is sheath. She thrusted him right into Marissas midsection……

Right as blood spurted out from Thalia’s now be-headed throat.

~~~

“Gar! What are you doing?” Patrck asked, sweating from the huge exertion of taking down the barrier. This wasn’t his Gar. This was a demon. When was Gar going to tell his Guard about this? About him being a demon?

“Why hello, Patrck.” He purred, and Pat flinched. 

“Go and save the others, all of you! I can take them, save Thalia and Ashley!” He yelled behind him, and the rest of the party spare Mark, Wade and Jp left towards the castle.

“We are going to help.” Mark said firmly, and Pat nodded. He was going to need all the help he could get.

Without spoken commands, all of them charged towards the gigantic demon army that was in front of them. Some would think it to be a suicide mission, but all of them knew that they had to give it all they got.

Almost immediately, vines shot up out of the ground and grabbed a hold of the demons in the front ranks, crushing them until a black liquid trailed out of their mouths. Gar moved towards the back, and Pat could see the surprise in his eyes at their strength. Well, he was fighting against a Lord.

Wade, who could only heal others, made sure to constantly send small orbs of healing towards them to keep them going. Not enough to fully heal any of their wounds, but enough to stop them from being major. In between sending them out, he would hack at a few of the demons with his sword. He was right, he couldn’t do it singlehandedly. It was a two-handed sword. Pat chuckled on the inside, remembering the embarrassing first encounter.

Jp, whose magic could assess others weapons and items, teamed up with Mark by sending his magic through the roots of the plants that continuously grabbed and held new demons. Then, yelled out to them what their magic was.

But soon, the demons overtook them. For every demon that died, atleast three took it place. His friends were falling back, and more pain was being inflicted on them. Pat could feel it, for his magic was being spread out. He could hear more, feel more, see more. He couldn’t let his friends die. He, himself, had gotten atleast three blows to the jaw.

Suddenly, a fist came out of nowhere, and Pat looked up in horror to see the face of his Prince behind it. The fist went crashing into his armor, the sheer force denting and cracking it. Pat stumbled back and fell, taking large, labored breaths. Was Gar going to kill him?

He could feel the familiar vibration of the electricity flowing through his veins and he placed his hands on the ground. He knew what he had to do, even though doing so meant possibly killing his Prince. Oh god, he wished he didn’t have to come to this resort. He could never kill Gar. Nonetheless, he still placed his hands on the ground as Gar advanced.

“Everyone! Back up!” He yelled over the screams of the dying demons. He only hoped that his friends could hear him.

Thankfully, they could, because they backed up quickly. The demons advanced, but that was when Pat let loose. His magic coarsed through the ground, electrifying everything in front of him. It was almost like in the children’s books, where when someone was electrified their insides could be seen.

Except this wasn’t made up, this was for real.

Piercing screams echoed around him, begging for the pain to let up. He almost felt sorry for them. But, they were hurting innocent people.

He got lost in the carnage, his blood thrumming in his head as he pushed more and more electricity out of him and into the field. More, and more pain. He could see them falling, one by one-

“Pat! Stop!” Jp pleaded, and Pats hands were abruptly disconnected with the ground. He landed with a thud on his back, and he was looking up into Jps scared brown eyes. He realized that he was crying. Why was Pat crying? There was nothing sad about this.

“Pat, their done. Stop. Please.” Jp genuinely looked terrified. Wait, if they were dead, did that mean that Gar was dead too?

But no. When Pat stood up and bolted over to where Gar was lying, face down in the dirt, he felt a very feeble pulse. He and a few others were still alive.

“Kill the others,” Pat instructed. “But we’ll keep Gar. Wade, can you help heal him? Maybe it’s not too late.”

“Pat?” A breathy, very quiet whisper said from beneath him.

“Hey, Gar. I’m here.” Pat responded, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. “I’m here.”

~~~

Wade healed him enough so that he could hold-up throughout the journey, but after all the over-exertion, he couldn’t do more than that. The field was silent now, even as Thomas and the Trainers led at least 3,000 people over to them.

“Almost all of them were dead.” Thomas mourned, bowing his head when they finally reached Pat and the others.

Mark nodded, his face sullen. 

“Bryclyn?” Jp called out, looking out into the mob. When he couldn’t find her, he became more desperate, screaming out her name. Oh no, poor Jp…..

“Bryclyn!” He screamed, tears streaming down his face. “Bryclyn, you promised! You promised you would come back! You promised you would see me again!” 

Jp fell to the ground, his sobs loud and pain-stricken. Pat watched with sorrow as his friend broke. He walked over and knelt down, gently hugging him and rocking him, trying with all his might to calm him.

“What about Ashley? Is she-“ Wade asked, looking to the crowd to hopefully spot his sister.

“I’m- I’m sorry, Wade. Dayna, Ashley and Thalia are………” A girl that Wade seemed to recognize stepped out of mob with tears streaming down her cheeks. She was wearing the armor of a Knight or a Guard. Was she who he thought she was?

“Oh god. Oh god, Gabbie, they’re dead?” Wade choked, looking at her with sorrow etched all over his face. She nodded, and he walked over to her and embraced her. They cried into each other for what seemed like moons before Gabbie pulled away and wiped her face.

“I saved Molly, though. She was next in line to be killed. I got there just in time. I killed Marissa right when….right when…..” Molly stepped out of the mob as well, and she hugged Wade tightly, also crying. 

“I’m so happy you’re alive.” Wade cried, pressing his face into her shoulder.

Snow floated over and somehow hugged Gabbie, even though he looked like he was made out of mist. Dark streaks were trailing down his vapor-like face. That was a strange sight for all except Molly, for Snow was seen as distant to all of them. Two men stepped out and hugged Gabbie as well. One had blonde hair, and one had long, dark hair.

“Dan, Entoan? You survived?” He heard Gabbie whisper as she looked at them. They nodded, watery smiles on their faces as the four of them embraced again. “What of Dlive?” She sniffled, and Entoans smile got bigger. 

“The big doofus ran away. We’re pretty sure he got out alright.” He smiled, but then it dropped when he remembered the Heiresses and Dayna.

“Come, we can mourn for them later. Now, we must go.” Pat walked over to them and sadly smiled before facing the rest of the crowd.

“All of you, follow us! You are free, and now, you are safe!”

~~~

Ethan leaned over to whisper to Snow after they started the long trek home.

“I’ve found someone, although they were already a Trainer before. You knew her, right? Gabbie? Do you think she would come back?” He whispered, and Snow pursed his lips. He floated over to to her and popped the question.

She turned to him and gave a sad smile.

“There’s nothing for me to stay in Dauntaff for, now. I will gladly join you here. Just, let me go back home for a bit please? To watch over Gar?” She asked, her eyes almost pleading.

“Of course, I would never take that from you. We will see you soon.” He nodded to her as they neared the border between the Trainers Forest and Taura.

“Thank you, Shawn.” She whispered, and he smiled.

“No problem, Monica.”


	36. Chapter 36

After a month of returning the captured people to their designated Divisions, Pat and Gabbie were finally back in Dauntaff. They had said goodbye to Wade, Molly, and Jp in Lascon while they were dropping off the survivors and they had done the same to Mark and Thomas in Taura. The Trainers had bid farewell to everyone but Gabbie, and, well, life was getting back into the normal swing of things.

They didn’t interact with Lord Kjellburg, Lord McLaughlin, or Lord Aotic when they dropped off survivors there, for they were in a hurry to get Gar back to Blutesa. The past king had passed away the week prior to the rescue, so Gar was officially the king. He needed to be with his people.

Gabbie walked the familiar halls down to the hospital wing where Gar was currently being held with her bag in hand. She ran into Pat along the way, who shot her a sad smile.

“I guess this is a good bye, isn’t it, Gabbie?” He asked, and she nodded with the same smile. They briefly hugged before she bid her farewell.

“Good bye, Pat. I wish you luck.” she said. He repeated it, and sadly waved good bye as she continued. She wanted to say more, but there were no words to describe how she felt. She didn’t want to leave her Royal family, but what needed to be done needed to be done.

Her thoughts wandered back to Gar. He was gradually getting better, but now, with the magic of his Division and his Kingdom coming down on his shoulders alone, he wouldn’t stay that way. He need somebody else to help uphold that.

And Gabbie planned to be that person.

She knew that she was a Trainer now, and that there was already a mass amount of magic that was going to be put on her, but Gar needed help. It wasn’t a marriage, the magic just needed to recognize it as one. Or, the magic atleast needed to recognize it as something similar to a marriage. 

It was more of her just pledging to take the magic off of his shoulders in times of need. A bond would be put in place between them so that she could feel when he needed to have some pressure released, and then she would take it off of his shoulders.

Until Gar could find someone to marry, this was his best bet. He would need another person to help him. And Gabbie, being one of his close friends and one of his trusted advisors, was a good person to do that job until someone else was there to do it for her.

They had already discussed it after he woke up the first time. They just needed to do the ceremony now.

“Hey, Gar.” She greeted as she swung open the door. He was awake and watching his dog, Dante, run around. Out of everything he missed at home, she figured that Dante was the one that he missed the most.

“Hey. Are you ready? Snow said he would come soon.” Snow, claiming to be the best priest in the entire kingdom, voulenteered to help them. That was a bunch of malarkey, but they all just laughed it off and let it fly.

“And now, the most important person is here.” Snow said, teleporting into the room. They chuckled before sitting next to each other on the hospital bed.

“Alright, we have to be very elaborate now. All the fancy, Stiff stuff, right?” He asked, and Gar snorted, causing them all to laugh some more. Then they calmed down, realizing the seriousness of this, and Snow started the ceremony.

He touched Gars head, his palm between the Princes eyes. It had been a while since Gabbie had thought of Gar as a Prince. A a prick of pain echoed in her heart as she remembered her Princess. Thalia.

The normal sentence for a Guard to allow their Royal to die is death, because the Guards vow to protect them with their lives. The only reason why Gabbie wasn’t death was because she was a Trainer now.

“Do you, Prince Bluemoon of Dauntaff, pledge to bear the weight of your Divison and your Kingdom with Trainer Sorient? Do you pledge to take the magic when she is being overburdened and give the magic when you are having the same?” Snow recited, and Gar responded with ‘I do’.

Snow then turned to her, putting his other hand on her head.

“Do you, Trainer Sorient of Hanoi, pledge to bear the weight of your Division and your Kingdom with Prince Bluemoon? Do you pledge to take the magic when he is being overburdened and give the magic when you are having the same?” She also replied with ‘I do’.

“Then it is done.” He smiled, and they both felt the weight of the bond settle on them.

“Ok, Gabbie. Are you ready to go?” Snow asked her, and she smiled.

“Yes, Snow, I’m ready.” She picked up her bag. “Let’s go.” They began to teleport out of the hospital, and Gabbie quickly waved to Gar before he was fully gone. It was time to start a new life. She only wished her new life could be around her friends.

Maybe, she thought later as she attempted to sleep in Procet with the Pixies flashing outside of her window, maybe future endeavors will be with them.

If only she knew.


	37. Chapter 37

And that’s the end of Rising to the Throne! This has been an adventure for both you and me, and I’m so happy with how it turned out.

Now, next pressing matter, the next book. It will be called ‘Stressing the Bond’ and it will be coming out in September. I can’t write this summer, so it should atleast start in September. Thank you all so much for tagging along on this adventure, and I’ll see y’all in September! Good bye, my friends!

-Jinx


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